Witness Protection
by valathe
Summary: Modern AU Elsa is a detective with the NYPD, hunting a deranged serial killer with her partner Kristoff. She crosses paths with Anna when her roommate is seemingly abducted by the maniac. Will Elsa find them in time to prevent another murder? How will she respond to her feelings for the quirky redhead? Rated M for smut, language and very graphic depictions of violence and rape
1. New Clues

Elsa groaned as she rubbed her temples. The headache had set in about an hour ago and stubbornly refused to leave. That she had been staring into a computer monitor for several hours and still continued to do so probably didn't help. That she was incredibly frustrated with not making any progress made the dull throbbing only worse.

Kristoff, her partner, was sitting at his own desk in their small office, apparently suffering through the same condition. Elsa startled when he suddenly slammed his fist down.

„This leads to nothing!" he growled. „We've gone over all of this like 25 times in the past two months alone. I'm gonna get some coffee. You want some too?"

Elsa rolled her eyes, because her answer to that question had always been, without fail, a 'Yes!', but smiled nonetheless. „I do, pretty boy. You know how I like it?"

Kristoff smiled back. „Black, with milk, no sugar."

„Atta boy" she purred, grinning as he shut the door behind him. It was this routine, their small inside jokes, knowing when to give the other person space, that helped her keep her sanity in her job. When he returned with her coffee (black, no milk, tons of sugar) he plopped down in his seat again, sighing deeply. She put the cup to her lips and moaned with delight when liquid 'awake' filled her mouth.

„You need it that bad, huh?" Kristoff said with a sheepish grin. Elsa blushed and was about to belt him with every single pen lying on her desk, when someone knocked and poked their head through their door.

„Hey lovebirds, I got something for you" said the head with hair black as coal and a mustache with handlebars that would make Hulk Hogan jealous.

"Hey Neil, what's up?" Elsa asked casually.

"Oh, nothing," Neil replied, "only the big breakthrough you've waited for. A witness!"

They both immediately jumped out of their seats and made to follow him. Out of reflex, Elsa grabbed the badge lying on her desk, even though she didn't need it. While they walked through the busy corridors of the precinct, Elsa took her time to study the badge intently, like she did at least once a weak. It kept her grounded. She smiled at all the intricate little details that didn't quite fit on the piece of metal and made it look unintentionally funny.

Liberty and Justice holding the shield, with the eagle perched on top, slightly spreading its wings. 'CITY OF NEW YORK POLICE' ran above in a semicircle, 'DETECTIVE' underneath in straight lettering. She absent-mindedly let her fingers run over her badge number, 3141. She liked to think how much good she had done with that badge. How much scum she had gotten off the street. How many crimes she had solved with her meticulous work. It helped her stay motivated when she hit a wall, just as she had done with her current case. But maybe that wall was about to be smashed in by a real-life witness. Hopefully.

"Hello, earth to Elsa, anybody in there?" Kristoff said, waving his hand in front of her eyes.

"Uh, yeah, what?" she answered, flustered.

"We're here" he replied, pointing to an interrogation room. "A girl's inside, came in to report her roommate as missing. You wanna go in, or should I?"

Elsa contemplated for a bit. "I'll do it. She'll likely be more at ease around another woman."

Kristoff nodded and gestured towards the door. Neil stood next to them, looking quite satisfied to have provided the big lead.

She knocked and entered the room. Inside, a red-haired girl sat at the desk, bleary-eyed and slumped in her chair. She was fiddling around with a water bottle, trying to keep her hands busy, and, likely, her mind occupied. When she heard the door open she looked up, uncertainty plain in her features.

Elsa donned a small smile and confidently strode into the room, closing the door and sitting down on the opposite side of the desk.

"Hi, I'm detective McKay, Elsa McKay." she said, extending her hand.

The girl tentatively reached for the hand and gave it a slight squeeze before worrying over the water bottle again.

"Anna", she said with a barely-there accent that Elsa had trouble recognizing. "Anna Keller."

Elsa arched an eyebrow at her last name. "My mother's maiden name was Keller. You don't happen to be from Wisconsin?"

"No", the girl said, still unsure about what was going on. "I'm originally from Texas, but I've lived in New York since I was six."

Now it clicked. A hint of the southern drawl was still present in her speech.

"What's going on? Why am I being interrogated here?"

Elsa looked apologetically and got up again. "I'm sorry that my colleague put you in here, it's standard procedure. If you'd like to we can go to my office. It's much nicer. And much messier, come to think of it."

That elicited a small smile from the girl. "Yeah, I'd prefer that."

"Well then, follow me", Elsa replied with a smile, knocking on the door twice. It was opened by Kristoff. Neil had left. Her partner shot her a questioning look, and Elsa whispered "We're heading for the office. Nicer atmosphere. Don't disturb us for a while." He nodded and began walking off, likely to the break room and then to the kennels, to share a sandwich or two with that K9 of his. It was really sweet, but so incredibly disgusting at the same time.

Anna followed her timidly, and quietly sat down on the indicated chair opposite of Elsa's.

"Now Anna, I hope it's okay if I call you that?" The girl quickly nodded, and Elsa continued. "Okay, Anna, I still have to record your statement. Are you okay with that?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess." She still looked incredibly lost.

"Don't worry, you'll get a transcript that we'll both sign, so you know there's no foul play involved." Elsa said with a wink. Anna seemed to lighten up a bit.

"Okay, first I'd like you to state your name, age and place of residence."

The girl hesitated for a bit, before saying "Anna Keller, 24 years, 91 Astoria Boulevard, Door 3, New York City."

"Very good. Right! Let's get started. This is detective Elsa McKay, NYPD 3141, with the witness report of the aforementioned Anna Keller concerning a missing person. So, you want to report your roommate as missing, is that correct?"

Anna nodded, and quickly added "Y-yes.", when Elsa smiled and pointed to the small microphone sitting in front of her.

"What is your roommate's name, and when did they go missing?"

"Um, Nicole Summers, and she left our apartment yesterday morning. That's the last I've heard of her. It's not unusual for her to vanish for a day or two, but she always replies to texts or calls, and I've heard nothing from her since yesterday. I went out asking our mutual friends, but they haven't heard anything from her, either. So when she still wasn't home today at noon I became worried, and decided to come here." She shrunk back in her chair, appearing even smaller.

Elsa sent her a reassuring smile. "That was the right thing to do, Anna. She's probably just sleeping off a hangover and her phone ran out of battery, but it never hurts to be cautious. Now, was there anything out of the ordinary when she left yesterday morning?"

Anna fidgeted in her seat. "Well, the night before she brought a boy with her. I wasn't supposed to be home because I had plans with my boyfriend, but we had a fight so I stayed home and watched Netflix. I mean, that's no biggie and I went back to my room because I didn't want to disturb them, but apparently the guy was very upset that they weren't alone. I heard them arguing in her room and then he stormed out. She was really pissed that I had scared off her date, but we made up with some hot chocolate." She smiled at that. "Anyway, yesterday morning she realized that the guy had forgotten his wallet and she said she would just go over to his place and return it real quick, it wasn't that far away from our apartment. Somewhere on 30th Avenue. I don't know where exactly. And after that, nothing. She'll be alright, won't she?"`Worry and concern were obvious in her voice.

Elsa smiled again. "I'm sure she's fine, and now that I'm on it she'll be home in no time, you'll see."

After a sip from her now cold coffee, she continued. "Now, do you remember anything about the man she brought home? His name, how he looked, what he wore?"

Anna thought back. "His name was Michael, I didn't catch his last name. He was pretty average, aside from the ridiculous beard he had. It was really bushy and not very well kempt, I'm surprised she even brought him home, she's usually very conscious of those things."

"Okay. Was there anything unusual about him? Was he overly aggressive, or nervous?"

"Well, yeah he was pretty upset that I was there, which I found a bit weird. Oh, and his eyes!"

Elsa furrowed her brows. "His eyes?"

Anna shuddered at the memory. "Yeah, he had really piercing eyes. A deep gray, it was almost unnatural. Gave me the creeps. Other than that, I'm afraid I don't remember much. As I said, I quickly retreated to my room to give them some space. I only heard bits of the argument, and how the door slammed when he stormed off."

"Anything specific on what they were arguing about?"

Anna thought back, frowning. "No, sorry. I could only hear that he was clearly angry."

"That's okay, Anna." Elsa said, smiling again. "Now, is there anything else you can think of? Any small detail that might seem unimportant to you? It could maybe help us a great deal."

Anna thought very hard, frowning again. "Well, now that you mentioned it, he had his right hand in his pocket, like all the time. He seemed to be playing around with something. I figured it was his phone or his keys maybe, so I didn't pay it much mind. Other than that...no, nothing. Sorry." She looked exhausted.

"It's alright, Anna. You did great. Now I'll call Steven, our sketch artist, and he'll draw the man your roommate was with, so we know what we're looking for. Do you happen to have a photo of Nicole with you?"

Anna nodded and moved to retrieve it from her purse.

"She's a very pretty girl" Elsa said, watching the bright blonde hair and the deep blue eyes. Anna nodded, blushing slightly.

"I had a little bit of a crush on her when we first met in college, but now we're best friends. You have to find her. Please!"

Elsa smiled again, wondering how dumb her constant smiling must look. "Don't worry. She'll be back in no time, and tell you a crazy story over some hot chocolate."

Anna giggled, lightening up a bit.

Elsa picked up her phone and quick-dialed a number. "Steven? Yeah, it's Elsa. I'm in need of your divine gift. No, I'll bring her down. Be there in five."

Anna smirked at the exchange.

"His ego needs a little stroking now and then", Elsa said with a wink. "Now, I'll bring you down to Steven, and while you two are busy I'll type this down and come find you when you're done, so we can both sign it, okay?"

Anna nodded, obviously relieved that it was over. Elsa reached into her desk and withdrew a card that had her name and number on it.

"Here, I'm giving you my number. If you think of anything else that might help us, no matter how small or insignificant, please don't hesitate to call. Even if it's 3 AM."

Anna took the card and gingerly placed it in her purse, as if it was some great treasure that needed special safekeeping. Elsa escorted her down to Steven who warmly welcomed her and immediately set out to work. Half an hour later, Elsa had printed out the transcript and headed down again. She looked through the large window separating Steve's office from the large space where the beat cops had their desks. They were still at work. Another thirty minutes later, and Anna finally walked out of the office, completely drained. Elsa smiled and approached her.

"Hey Anna. I hope Steven wasn't too much of a diva?"

Anna smiled weakly, and shook her head. "No, he was really sweet. And boy, can he draw!"

Elsa laughed at that. "That's why he's so good at his job. Now, I have the transcript here, we just need to sign both copies, okay?" She laid a hand on Anna's back to gently nudge her towards a desk, but took it away when she felt the girl stiffen beneath her touch. Anna blushed and picked up her pace, almost bumping into the furniture. Elsa had to stifle a giggle.

"Alright, read it through carefully. If there's a part you're not okay with we can go back and look at it."

Anna did as she was told, and after about ten minutes of reading her copy and confirming that both sheets were identical, she signed them on the 'Witness'-line. Elsa grabbed a pen and signed for 'Officer in charge'.

"Okay, done and done. Now you should head home and get some sleep. Will you be alright? My shift is over, I can drive you home if you want." Elsa smacked herself internally. _'What the fuck? Why did I just say that?'_

To her relief, Anna declined her offer. "No, it's quite alright. I'll catch a cab."

"Are you sure?" Another mental smack.

"Yeah. You already did enough for me today, Elsa umm I mean McKay I mean Officer Elsa...I'll stop talking now." She blushed furiously.

Elsa giggled. "Don't worry about it. And don't forget, call me if you suddenly remember something else. Good bye."

Anna gave a small wave and left the precinct.

Elsa looked after her retreating form, and when Anna was out the doors, she entered Steven's office.

"So that's our man." she said, studying the drawing.

"Looks like it." Steven replied. "Think this will help you guys along?"

Elsa sighed. "I hope so. You don't see a face like that every day."

* * *

><p>Kristoff stared at the picture hanging at the bulletin board in their office. "Now that's something you don't see every day. One ugly motherfucker. Wonder how he gets all those girls to take him home."<p>

Elsa laughed. "Well, you manage to pick up a girl every now and then, and look at you."

If looks could kill, Kristoff would have been charged with second-degree homicide.

"Well, you don't make it easy, making all the cute girls root for the other team."

Elsa blushed. "Can't help it if the competition is so weak."

A knock interrupted them, and again it was Neil's head sticking through the door.

"Hey lovebirds, now did I promise anything less?" If smugness had gravity he'd be halfway to China right now.

"Yes, Neil, thanks a ton. You're a real life saver." Elsa said, surprisingly without any hint of sarcasm. "Well, it's 10 PM now, and my head feels like a beehive. The pictures and descriptions have been distributed to the officers on patrol tonight? Good, I'm gonna head home, and nail this mofo's ass tomorrow."

Neil took that as his cue to open the door fully. "Listen, Elsa, maybe you'd like to get a beer or dinner sometime?"

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Neil, for the nth time. I'm gay, and you can't un-gay me. I'd love to grab a beer or two with you some time after hours, but you need to get this date-thing out of your head. Okay? And definitely not today, I just wanna go home and pass out."

Neil kept his smile, but it was a grimace now. "Alright Elsa, just a beer, some time this week. Alright?"

Despite everything, Elsa managed a smile. "Yeah, Neil. Just a drink between colleagues. I'd like that."

And with that, Neil was gone again.

Kristoff looked at her amused. "What was that, like the twelfth time he's asked you out?"

Elsa rubbed her temples again. "I stopped counting after five. I hope he's finally taken the hint."

"Well, now that he's out, wanna grab a beer?"

Elsa smiled, but shook her head. "Nah, I meant it when I said I want to pass out. But thanks anyway. Tomorrow."

"I gotcha. Anyway, see you tomorrow feisty pants, bright and early."

Elsa scoffed. "The words 'bright' and 'early' together in a sentence don't exist in my universe."

Kristoff laughed. "Night, Els."

"Night, Kris." she replied while turning off the light in their office.

* * *

><p>"What's so funny?" the girl yelled over the booming music.<p>

"Nothing." Elsa said, "Just had to think about something from work."

She looked at the woman, lust filling her eyes. "Why don't we go somewhere more..._quiet_?"

The girl nodded, taking her hand. "My apartment is just around the corner."

They burst through her door, lips locked. Miraculously they made it to the bedroom without breaking the kiss or stumbling to the ground. Clothes were coming off at a frantic speed, and soon enough Elsa was writhing and moaning beneath the touch of a woman she had met thirty minutes earlier. As she neared her climax, one thought crossed her mind. _'I'm gonna pass out alright.'_

* * *

><p><strong>hey guys, another fic *yay*<br>**

**thought you'd get some smut on day one, didn't you? no such luck, pervs. gotta wait a while for that :P**

**once again i repeat the warning from the description: there will be 'very' graphic depictions of violence. i'm talking mutilated bodies graphic. also some sexy girl on girl action. if that's not your cup of tea you should stop reading**

**i'll try to update once a week, and already have several chapters waiting. any suggestions and/or criticism is very welcome, i'm not above rewriting stuff if you feel i should. also, you're welcome to guess where i got the names for elsa's parents :D  
><strong>

**apologies in advance if i fuck some things up, i'm not overly familiar with U.S. laws or police (trying to do my research, though). once again, don't hesitate to call me out on my bullshit. if it's not important for the plot i'll change it.**

**also, anyone willing to beta this or my other fics, don't hesitate to contact me. i don't know how this beta thing actually works here, but i'll figure it out ;)**

**anyway, reviews are apprectiated  
><strong>

**peace out**


	2. House call, pt I

Elsa woke when an errant sunbeam hit her eye. She groaned, attempting to will the sun to move a little bit faster so she could continue sleeping. When that wasn't working, she turned around and lazily opened her eyes. With a start, she realized she wasn't at home. She was naked, tangled in the sheets of someone else's bed. She tried getting up, but only managed to trip herself and noisily flop to the ground. The door creaked open, and a girl dressed in just a shirt stood in the doorway.

"Morning, sleepyhead." she said with a giggle, holding a mug of what smelled like coffee.

Slowly, the past night returned to Elsa. Another fling with another girl she didn't know. One of these times she'd gonna catch something nasty. Like syphilis. Was it even possible to get syphilis from a chick if you were a woman yourself? She didn't know, and honestly, she didn't want to find out.

"What time is it?" she asked sleepily.

The girl turned around, apparently to check a clock, and stretched herself in the process, revealing that she truly only wore that shirt. Elsa immediately felt that tingling rise in her. Which was just as quickly shot down again when the stranger replied with "8:40something AM"

Elsa's eyes widened in shock. _8:40?_ "Shit! Fuck I'm gonna be so late. No no no no."

She clumsily stumbled through the room, still half asleep, and tried to somehow gather up all of her clothes and get into a somewhat presentable state. Her multiple fumbles at attempting to step into the leg of her jeans resulted in barely concealed laughter from the girl watching her.

"Late for what?" she asked. "Busting some crackhead?"

Elsa's gaze shot up, and she froze mid-motion. _'How did she know I'm a...'_

"How did I know?", the girl asked, cutting off her thought. She pointed behind Elsa, where her purse lay face down next to a chair. It must have fallen off during the night, and had spilled its contents. Amongst which were her badge and her service weapon. '_Fuck! Don't be so fucking sloppy, Elsa! Something like is gonna get you killed one day!' _

"Don't worry, I didn't touch that thing." the stranger said. "Would be icing on the cake, you dropping some poor fella for running away with two dollars and a Snickers, and my prints on the gun. Nuh-uh."

Elsa could tell the girl tried to be funny to alleviate the tension, but she failed miserably. You didn't joke about things like that with a cop who took their job seriously. And Elsa did take her job very seriously.

She was finally dressed, if one can call an unbuttoned shirt and missing a sock 'dressed', and started hastily scraping all her stuff back into her purse. Just to be sure she checked the magazine of her gun, and saw to her relief that it was full. It also didn't smell like it had been recently fired.

"Not taking any chances, huh?" the girl commented. She was starting to get on Elsa's nerves.

"No, not with that" she hissed through her teeth. She finally found her other sock and put it on, and started buttoning up her shirt.

"I take it you won't stay for breakfast?"

"Sorry, can't" was Elsa's curt reply. They both knew she wasn't sorry.

"Well, you should get some coffee. The way you sleep can't be very refreshing-"

Elsa shot her a questioning look.

"You were thrashing around like a madman, and at one point I thought you'd start to cry in your sleep. Had to move to the couch to get some shut-eye."

Elsa sighed. Of course she had a nightmare. She was glad she didn't remember it this time, but she knew it perfectly well anyway. It was the same dream every night.

"I'm sorry. Wasn't on purpose." The other girl just made a dismissive gesture.

She did one last check rummaging through her pockets and her purse, to make sure everything was where it should be. Then she took off towards the front door. When she pulled it open she hesitated for a moment.

"Last night was...fun" she said, one foot already outside.

Her one night stand came up to her and smiled. "That it was." She handed Elsa a slip of paper. "That's my number. Call me some time if you're looking for some more...fun."

Elsa took the paper and stuffed it in her pocket without even looking. "Thanks. I will."

They both knew she wouldn't.

"Well, I'll better be off. Bye." she said, and stormed down the stairwell without looking back. Her car was luckily parked just around the corner, a little ways off the club where she had met her lover for the night. She got in with a sigh and checked her appearance in her rear view mirror. It wasn't perfect, but most guys at the precinct wouldn't notice. Kristoff would, though. He never missed those things.

* * *

><p>Just like she had feared, Kristoff had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face when she stumbled through the door to their office, twenty minutes late.<p>

"Rough night, huh?" he said, the grin growing even wider at her flustered state. "'I'm gonna pass out'" he mocked. "So tell me, who did you pass out on top of?"

Elsa soundly ignored him.

"You can try to ignore me, but I know that these are the same clothes you wore yesterday."

Elsa turned around. "So what? My washing machine could be broken."

Kristoff actually sniggered at her statement.

"What?" she groaned, obviously frustrated with her partner's antics.

"I didn't know washing machines could give you such massive hickeys on your collarbone."

"What?!" It was more of a shriek now. She rummaged through the drawers on her desk until she came upon a small hand-mirror, and sure enough, there it was. Her shirt must have skidded down to reveal a big, juicy hickey. She quickly closed two more buttons in an attempt to hide it, hoping it would be enough. The shirt was a bit low-cut and she didn't have any more buttons. Just as she was about to boot up her computer, her desk phone rang.

"Detective McKay?" she answered.

"Good of you to join us, McKay." the voice replied. It was their captain. Kristoff raised a questioning eyebrow, and Elsa moved her index-and middle finger to her nose to indicate a Hitler-stache. They weren't very fond of their superior.

"Captain Sobel. How may I help you today." She fought hard to keep any hint of sarcasm out of her voice.

"Because your record is absolutely spotless otherwise, I'm going to keep it between the two of us, and not order you to my office. Don't make turning up late a habit." he hissed before hanging up.

Elsa threw the receiver back on the cradle, making sure it was firm in place.

"Dick", she finally uttered. Kristoff grinned like a madman.

"Wow, for once you're in trouble, and not me. What is it, opposite day? Wanna switch clothes?"

Elsa couldn't help but laugh at the notion of Kristoff strutting around in her clothes, probably showing off more of his body than was good for anyone in the precinct.

"Let's not." she replied, after calming down.

"So tell me." Kristoff said suddenly.

"Tell you what?" Elsa replied, mildly confused.

"Who is she?"

Elsa blushed. "Uh...I don't...really know to be honest."

Kristoff's mouth hung open. "What do you mean, you don't know. You don't even know her name?"

Elsa blushed even harder. "Well, no. She gave me her number, in case I wanted to have some more 'fun', but we both know this was a one-off."

Her partner scrunched up his face. "But...but why? Was she like, bad in bed? Did she smell? Did she have a dick?"

Elsa had to stifle a laugh at the image. "No. she was actually quite good in bed. But I couldn't stand her face in the morning. She was so incredibly annoying and getting on my nerves, just like all the other girls."

"All the other..." Kristoff blanched at those words. "Okay, now you _have_ to tell me. How many girls did you have in bed?"

Elsa shot him a glare. "This year? I dunno, something between eight and thirteen, yesterday included. I don't keep count."

"Thirt...this year?!" Kristoff had obvious trouble forming coherent sentences. "Wow Elsa that's...wow. Are all of those just one night stands?"

Elsa cocked her head to her side and viewed Kristoff with a curious expression. "You know, there's a reason you've never heard me talk about my girlfriend in all those years we've been partners. Because I never had one. I thought you knew that...the most I've ever had with one of those chicks were like eight or nine times, because we were snowed in at a ski resort for a few days."

Kristoff was about to say something when Elsa's computer beeped, indicating it had finished starting up. Her eyes went back to the bulletin board. To the face sitting there.

"We should get back to the work at hand." she said, and Kristoff knew that the topic was closed. For now.

"Yeah you're right I suppose." he said, still reeling from the nuclear bomb of an admission he was just handed as casually as if it were nothing but a bottle of water.

"I assume neither the girl nor the suspect were spotted during the night?" she asked.

Kristoff sighed. "Nope. But you knew it wouldn't be that easy."

Elsa sighed, too. "Yeah. I didn't expect him to just waltz up to the next best beat cop and throw his hands into the air."

Kristoff chuckled at the image in his head. "Yeah, well, we should really focus on finding that Summers girl. Unfortunately, it looks like her phone is completely dead. Couldn't trace it. Getting the records of her movements from her provider will take about a week, even with a court order. And you know we don't have that time, Elsa. Judging from his usual M/O, we have four or five days before she ends up somewhere in an alley, looking like a pincushion. "

Elsa frowned. "I'm not sure. He knows there was a witness this time. Maybe he'll do nothing at all to her. Maybe she's jumped on a bus to New Mexico with a big 'fuck you' to everyone in her life. Or maybe she's already dead. Him knowing that there is someone who's actually seen him, and could probably identify him, is a new variable, one I don't like one bit."

Kristoff hummed in agreement. "Well, not to forget that this could all be a wild goose chase. What if it's all just a coincidence? There's enough creeps and weirdos running around, an pretty girls vanish on every corner."

Elsa scoffed. "Nah. It fits his pattern too well. Pretty blonde hair, blue eyes, college girl, meeting at her house, insisting that they be alone...it's him. I feel it in my gut."

Kristoff wasn't entirely convinced. "Stranger things have happened. Maybe he insisted on being alone because he wanted to sell a little pick-me-up? A little coke or meth, something that would get him quite some time..."

"Yeah, but freaking out because of her roommate, who wasn't even with them in the same room? They went to her room, they could've done the deal there and she would be none the wiser. Besides, why would she snitch on him?"

Kristoff contemplated for a bit. "Well, little Miss Innocent could try to save her dear friend from the clutches of addiction, and the best way to go about it is cut off the supply."

Elsa chuckled. "Little Miss Innocent? That redhead's using herself, at least pot. Regularly. Probably some LSD or E once in a while, too."

Kristoff laughed. "So you can tell just by the look if some uses? Why haven't you told the captain? Get your promotion to narcotics-K9."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Haha, very funny. I know a pothead when I see one. And I know for a fact that you yourself are quite fond of a little green magic once in a while."

Kristoff smirked. "Only because you drag me along every single time."

Elsa giggled. "You haven't refused once, and I didn't force you on gunpoint. Anyway, the girl's smoking. I bet you a fiver."

Kristoff smiled. "You're on!"

They fell quiet for a while. It was Elsa who first spoke again. "Anyway, I don't think it's a deal gone bad. Likely story if he would have been high off meth or something, but the way Anna described his behavior he was too collected for such a huge bout ofparanoia to occur out of the blue."

"Anna?" Kristoff asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Elsa let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, the witness, duh. In case you already forgot."

"Elsa, we've been together since police academy, and you've never, _never ever_ called someone involved in a case just by their first name."

Elsa looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Yes I did."

Kristoff shook his head. "Nuh-uh." When Elsa kept insisting, he simply said. "Whom?"

"Whom what?" Elsa asked.

"Whom did you call by their first name. Give me just one example, besides Ms. Keller just now."

Elsa though about that, and to her surprise she couldn't come up with a single instance of this ever happening before.

"Uh...I guess you're right?" she said, unsure.

Her partner's reaction could not have been more befuddling. He shot up from his chair and let out a holler that was sure to be heard across the building. "Mark the day, everyone, I was _right_!"

To make matters worse he stormed out of their office and started running up and down the corridor, flapping his arms like they were wings and chanting "McKay said I am right~ McKay said I am right~ McKay said I am right~"

The show earned him quite a few laughs and guffaws, and just as many disapproving and reprimanding looks. Elsa was at a complete loss as to what she should do, so she just in the doorway and looked in equal parts amazement and bewilderment at the utterly ridiculous antics of her partner.

She finally decided on amazed when some very nice colleague decided to trip him, and he went flying face-first into some poor beat cop who had just somehow survived her first few weeks without too much mental scarring. Well, goodbye to that.

Elsa held her stomach and threw her head back in laughter, it was so much she actually started crying. She wasn't the only one though, most of the precinct followed suit and laughed all the way until Kristoff was back in his chair, office door closed.

"There go my five minutes under the spotlight." he sighed wistfully.

Elsa, having calmed down a bit, replied "It seems like Icarus has flown too close to the sun that is my brilliance."

Kristoff just rolled his eyes and tried to straighten out the creases that had made their way onto his shirt.

"Well, let's get back to it, shall we." Elsa stated matter-of-factly. "Now where were we..."

"You said you don't believe he's a druggie, at least not the dealing kind."

"Right. And yes, I don't believe that. That bearded face with a nose big enough to land a small aircraft on it, that's our guy. I just feel it in my gut."

"You and your gut" Kristoff said, "why don't you bend over and let a doc take a look at that prostate of yours."

Elsa chuckled. "And here I thought policemen had to know at least a little bit about female anatomy."

"Well, with your sense of commitment I wouldn't be surprised if you had one." Kristoff replied with a smirk that quickly left his face when he caught Elsa's glare. Clearly a touchy subject.

"Sorry" he mumbled under is breath.

Elsa spent the next few minutes staring at the bulletin board, waiting for some as of yet undiscovered pattern to materialize, but it just wouldn't come. She let out a frustrated sigh.

"There must be something here we're not seeing...something..."

"Elsa, stop thinking too hard. Maybe it's something that isn't even on the damned board. Maybe we just overlooked something."

She just scoffed. "Yeah, once maybe, I'll even give you twice. But seven times? No Kristoff. We need to find that pig, and fast. We can't let it become eight dead girls in a year."

"Well, maybe he's just _that_ good. Maybe he's a Lex Luthor-style evil genius, watching us right now and laughing because we're fumbling around in the dark like idiots."

Elsa turned around, a determined expression on her face. "_No_, Kristoff! No matter how good he is, _I_ am better! We need to catch him!"

Kristoff sighed. _'Not you too, blondie.'_ he thought. The signs were evident, and he had witnessed it several times already, with different colleagues. Elsa was becoming obsessed with this case. She had bounced all of their other cases to other detectives in the homicide department. They'd been working on just this case for the last two months, and aside from finally having a face (probably), they had made zero progress. He could see how it was starting to get to her, and if something didn't happen soon it would eat her up. She would burn out, quit the force, probably start drinking, the way he knew her. And that would just be a terrible waste.

He was desperate to get her out of that office. Desperate enough for...

"Els, have any of our guys been at Summers' place yet?"

Elsa turned around, frozen solid. "I...I don't know. I don't think so. What the fuck, why didn't we think of that yesterday? Quick, go get Sven and met me at the parking lot. We're taking my car, I wanna listen to some decent music."

Kristoff sighed. He knew what Elsa thought was 'decent' music. At least he got to take out Sven for the day.

* * *

><p>They'd been driving a good twenty minutes through New York traffic with some ungodly screaming in a demonic tongue blasting out of the speakers, with Elsa bobbing her head and occasionally singing along.<p>

"What was that again?" he shouted over the music.

"Norwegian." Elsa shouted back. "You of all people should know!"

He just shook his head and started scratching Sven behind the ear.

They finally arrived at 91 Astoria Blvd. Elsa killed the engine and Kristoff just prayed that his hearing would recover.

"That was a stupid idea, we don't even know if she's home." he said. "Why do you only listen to my stupid ideas."

"Because somehow," Elsa retorted with a smirk, "your madness has a system. And I'm sure she's home. She wouldn't leave if there was any chance Nicole might just come back on her own."

They went over to the dingy, three-storied house sandwiched between a tiny pizza place and some fast food joint that looked like it hadn't had a visit from the public health department in...forever. _'Lovely'_ she thought.

"Now let's see, door three." She found it, and pressed the button for the bell. After a few moments, the intercom crackled to life.

"H-Hello?" a shy voice asked.

"Anna, it's detective McKay, I've got my partner with me. Mind if we come inside?"

After a few moments, the voice responded. "Um, sure, it's on the second floor. The door is open. Just give me a minute to get dressed."

For some reason, Elsa blushed at those words. Anna buzzed them in, and they made their way upstairs. True enough, door number three was off the latch, and Elsa waited a moment before knocking and slowly pushing the door open. "Anna? It's me."

Suddenly the door was yanked open, and flustered Anna stood before them, in sweatpants and a worn, old sweater. She clearly wasn't expecting visitors.

"Hi Elsa, um, detective Elsa...I'm sorry I'm doing it again." she said, blushing.

Elsa smiled at the sight. "Just Elsa is enough, really." She turned, revealing the burly blond beside her. "This is my partner, detective Bjorgman, and his best and only friend, Sven." She pointed at the man and the dog respectively, a mischievous grin on her face.

Anna gave a shy wave to the looming man, but her face brightened up when she spotted the dog.

"My, aren't you a cutiepie!"

Sven's ears pricked up, and his tail started wagging. Kristoff groaned. "So much for the fearless K9, ripping suspects apart."

Elsa nudged him in the shoulder. "Well, Anna's not a suspect, you oaf."

Anna, happily petting Sven and ignoring the other two people in the hallway, looked up when she heard her name. "Um, why don't you guys come in?" she said, extending her hand inward and closing the door once they were inside.

* * *

><p><strong>okay, chapter two. Faster than anticipated but i'm writing like a madman and i'm already three chapters ahead. So you get this one a little faster ;)<strong>

_**please note that i've extended the warnings to include a **_**graphic ****rape scene.  
><em>Disclaimers about possibly triggering or sexy content will be posted at the top of the respective chapters<em>**

**anyway, keep those lovely reviews coming, I seriously do reply to all of them via PM**

**any ideas/suggestions/criticism is very welcome, as always**

**still looking for a beta, btw**

**peace out**


	3. House call, pt II

**Disclaimer: _very_ graphic depictions of violence/mutilation. Read at your own discretion!**

* * *

><p>They both looked around the room they were standing in. It was obviously the living room, with a couch placed a couple of feet away from the TV hanging from the wall. Behind it stood a large table with a few chairs around, none of which matched, and further behind a small, open kitchen. There were a few doors going off to several rooms. The place looked clean enough, there was just a dirty plate on the coffee table in front of the couch, and a few coats strewn about. Elsa noted a stain in one of the corners that looked suspiciously like mold. <em>'Why hello there substandard student apartment.'<em>

Anna was nervously playing with the hem of her sweater. "So, what brings you guys to my humble dwelling?"

Elsa spoke up. "We thought we might look around a bit, maybe find some clues as to where Nicole could be. Is that okay with you?"

Anna nodded quickly. "Yes! Anything to bring her home."

Elsa smiled reassuringly. "Good. First, we'd like to take a look at her room. Oh, and I hope you don't mind the dog going in there."

"Well, Nicole's allergic, but if it helps finding her...Her room is this one." She pointed at a door on the far side of the room, next to the kitchen.

They all went over there and took a look around. Anna was clearly nervous. "Uh, I think I'll let you guys snoop around in peace. Want some coffee? Sure, you're cops, what cop doesn't like coffee. Not that I want to imply that you're like boring or anything, god no, but you know the stereotype. I might have some doughnuts lying around. Wow, another stereotype, great work Anna."

Elsa laughed and interrupted her rambling. "Coffee would be fine, thank you."

Anna, blushing furiously, left the room for the kitchen.

Kristoff huffed. "The room's spotless. Seriously, you could eat off that desk. Nothing really seems out of place. And Sven hasn't picked up anything drug-related either. Looks like you were right."

Elsa sighed. "Sure looks like it. Well, let's continue. Maybe there's something in here that can give us a clue. Look under the bed and in the closet, I'll check the desk and the shelves."

They both went about their work, but both came up empty. "I got nothing" Elsa said, looking out the window. A small cactus was standing on the windowsill, with a bottle of sleeping pills next to it. _'Having trouble sleeping as well, huh?'_

"Me neither" Kristoff replied, "but you gotta hand it to her, there's not a single speck of dust in here. I would wife her just for that."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "God, Kristoff. You're impossible! Sometimes I really wonder why you're my friend."

"Because you're stuck with me, and you just grin and bear it." Kristoff shot back with a smirk.

Anna leaned in from the door. "Coffee's ready, just letting you know."

Both detectives left Nicole's room and went over to the kitchen where Anna was just in the process of pouring delicious-smelling coffee into three mugs. "You guys want milk or sugar?" she asked.

"I'll take some milk, please," Kristoff said, "and a metric ton of sugar for her."

Elsa sighed. "I can speak for myself, thank you very much. But yeah, some sugar would be nice."

Anna rummaged through a few cupboards, but came up empty.

"Where did I put...oh right, my room. Be right back."

She darted to the door that was apparently her room's and went inside. A second after she'd opened it, Sven started sniffing the air, before bolting into Anna's room and starting to bark like the world was about to end.

"Uh guys, help? Is this normal?" she asked with a small voice, obviously scared by the dog's erratic behavior.

Elsa and Kristoff both went into her room, which was in stark contrast to Nicole's. Dirty clothes were lying about everywhere, used plates and cutlery were stacked precariously on a desk that had a laptop sitting on it. Anna was clearly embarrassed about it.

Meanwhile, Sven was still barking at the top drawer of a dresser, occasionally turning his head to look what the hell was keeping his masters from opening the damn thing. Elsa quickly did so, and fished out a small plastic bag filled with weed. Anna's face, now completely devoid of color, was locked in a horrified expression.

"Ha! Told you so." Elsa said, holding out her other hand towards her parnter. "Cough up."

Kristoff frowned and fished five dollars out of his pocket. "Curse you and your gut, woman!"

Elsa, still holding the bag, turned to Anna, who was looking like she was seriously considering jumping out of the window.

"Your underwear drawer, Anna? You gotta do better than that. I keep mine in a Tupperware box, wrapped up in five different plastic bags. Won't fool a K9, but your panties won't smell like weed."

She smiled and tossed the bag to Anna, who didn't even seem to register she was spoken to. Suffice it to say, the bag bounced off her chest and tumbled to the floor. Sven was panting and looking at Kristoff expectantly.

"I got no treats with me, sorry buddy." Sven whined at his words.

Finally, Anna seemed to come back to her senses. "You're...You're not arresting me?" she asked, barely a whisper.

Elsa laughed. "For what, half an ounce of ganja? That's nowhere near worth the hassle. It's not like you're cooking meth in here or anything. Besides, we're homicide and not narcotics, so I care even less about that."

Anna's eyes went wide "Homicide?" she asked. "What...why are you looking for Nicole then? Do you think she's..." She didn't manage to finish the sentence, lip trembling. Elsa mentally kicked herself for slipping up.

"No, we don't believe she's dead." Elsa said, trying to sound reassuring. She sighed, and turned to Kristoff. "Would you wait outside, please? Maybe look around a bit in the living room." The blonde merely nodded and left the room.

"Why don't we sit down?" Elsa said, gently nudging Anna towards her bed, sitting down next to her.

She sighed again. "I didn't want to tell you this, since you're already worrying enough, but I won't lie to you. I'm sure you've heard of the Iceman?" _'What a fucking stupid nickname.'_

Anna frowned. "You mean that freak going around mutilating girls and..." She gasped, her eyes widened with understanding ans shock. "You believe it's him, don't you? The man she brought home." Her trembling voice barely a whisper.

Elsa nodded. "I do, yes. My partner isn't convinced, he thinks it could just be a coincidence. But it all fits his pattern. Nicole is a good-looking girl just out of college, blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin. His...peculiar behavior when they weren't alone... To me, that's more than a coincidence."

Anna was visibly shaken, shivering slightly.

"Now I don't want to scare you." Elsa quickly said. "There could still be a different explanation for her going missing. She might have lost her purse in an accident, and now she's unconscious in a hospital with no way to identify her."

The redhead scoffed, eyes wet. "You don't believe that."

Elsa sighed once again. "No, I don't. But it's possible. Still, even if she's with him, there is a good chance we'll find her before anything bad happens. Judging from his usual way of going about, we still have four or five days left to get him. And now that we know what he looks like, and roughly where he lives, he'll be in custody in no time." She smiled and grabbed Anna's hand, trying to calm the girl.

Anna took a shaky breath, looking Elsa straight in the eyes for the first time. "I believe you. I trust you that you'll catch this bastard, and bring Nicole home."

"I will." Elsa said, determination in her voice. "And he's going to pay, I promise you that."

Anna eyed with a curious look. "You know, you fit as well."

"Fit?" Elsa asked, surprised.

"The pattern. Blonde, blue eyes, pale skin, beautiful." Anna blushed, scratching the back of her neck. "I mean...you know what I mean."

Elsa blushed, too, and noticed she was still holding Anna's hand. She let it go and brushed an errand strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you." she said. "But I'd like to see him try to come onto me. Quite a few crackheads were surprised when their own knife was suddenly against their throat."

Anna had wide eyes. "You can do that? How?"

"Krav Maga." Elsa replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She laughed when Anna simply said "Gesundheit."

"Krav Maga is the official self-defense technique of the Israeli Armed forces. No fancy bullsh...nonsense like in those eastern styles."

"Wow. I'd like to see you do that."

"Well, you can drop by some time when I'm training if you'd like." '_What are you doing Elsa, stop this right now. She's a witness for crying out loud!"_

An awkward silence settled over them, neither knowing how to continue. Elsa just glanced about the room, when she suddenly spotted a Norwegian dictionary on one of the shelves.

"You know Norwegian?" she said, quite surprised.

"Uh, a little bit." Anna replied. "I have an aunt living in Norway, and I think it's a beautiful language. Why?"

"I know a little, too. As a kid I was enamored with Iceland and was dead-set on learning the language. But it's batshit retar...difficult to learn, so I settled for the next-best thing which was Norwegian. It _is_ a beautiful language, though."

"Well, takk for besøket." Anna said with a thick accent.

"Du er velkommen" Elsa replied, her accent just as bad.

Silence again.

"Well." Elsa said after a while, getting up. "I guess we should head back to the station. Thank you for having us."

Anna got up as well. "Thank you for dropping by, detec...Elsa. I'll call you if I can think of anything else important."

Elsa smiled. "Please do. And hide your stash better." she added, with a wink.

They went out to a waiting Kristoff, who was just sitting on the couch, petting Sven.

"You girls done?" he simply asked.

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we are. We should head out."

They moved to the front door. Once outside, Elsa turned around.

"Thanks again for having us, Anna." She frowned, looking at the door. "You should think about upping your security. Keep your door locked."

Anna nodded. "I will. Thanks for dropping by. And please, find her." she said, urgency in her voice.

"We will." Elsa replied. "Stay safe. Bye."

Kristoff just grunted until Elsa jabbed him in the ribs. "Ow, what's your problem?"

"Don't be rude, say goodbye."

Kristoff rolled his eyes. "'twas a pleasure making your acquaintance, fair maiden. I bid thee farewell." he said with a mock bow.

Anna giggled while Elsa hid her face in her hands. "God, you're impossible."

"Goodbye, Anna. Sorry for dragging that brainless buffoon along."

Anna laughed. "It's quite alright. Goodbye."

Back in the car, Elsa sighed and rubbed her temples. "Still nothing. I don't get it. He must slip up _somehow_, goddamnit!"

"He didn't, at least not in there. Aside from confirming that your _green thumb_ has a sixth sense, this was totally pointless."

_'Not totally pointless'_ Elsa though while staring up the window that was Anna's.

Kristoff looked a t her. "What?"

Elsa whirled around, eyes wide. _'Did I say that out loud? Shit!'_ "Um, nothing, I didn't say anything."

Kristoff continued staring at her, until he burst out laughing. "Holy shit, you've got the hots for her!"

Elsa blushed furiously. "No I don't. Where do you always get those ridiculous ideas?!"

"Your face begs to differ" Kristoff simply replied.

Elsa sighed. "Even if, it doesn't matter. She's a witness in an ongoing case."

"You know that's not forbidden per se" Kristoff said.

"Duh, no shit, Sherlock. Still, if we ever catch that guy she'll have to testify, and if word gets out that I had a tumble with her no judge will believe a word she says. I can't compromise our only witness."

"Have it your way, then" Kristoff said, pulling something out of his coat. "Oreo?" he said, handing her a cookie.

"Where did you...don't tell me you got that from her apartment!"

Kristoff laughed. "You gonna take it if I say no?"

Elsa just shook her head in denial, shoving the cookie in her mouth. She turned the key in the ignition, causing Norwegian screaming and distorted guitars to once again burst through the speakers in a deafening volume. Kristoff winced visibly.

"That's what you get for stealing, from a witness no less." Elsa said with a smirk.

* * *

><p>Anna watched from behind the curtains as Elsa and her partner got into a black sedan, talking for a bit before finally driving off. She sighed and turned away, stepping onto the plastic bag still lying on the floor. <em>'Better stash that away.'<em>

When she was satisfied with the new hiding place (in plain sight next to a very dead cactus on a shelf), she went to the front door to make sure it was locked. Suddenly, the weight of the situation came crushing down on her, the implications of her roommate at the mercy of a deranged killer hitting her full force. She slumped down, back against the door, and started sobbing uncontrollably. Hugging her knees to her chest she sat there, ignoring the phone vibrating in her pocket.

After a while she calmed down enough to get up again and wander aimlessly through the apartment. She arrived in the kitchen, an empty and two full coffee mugs sitting on the counter. Now cold, she poured them down the drain and rinsed the cups. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it. Her steps finally carried her to Nicole's room, and she leaned in the doorway, taking the room in. she could immediately spot the few things that had been moved around by her unexpected visitors. Nicole always kept her room impeccable, and the few items out of place stood out like a sore thumb.

She smiled ruefully, lying down in her roommate's bed and hugging her pillow. Tears started welling up again, but she fought them down. _'Don't do that, Anna. You're helping nobody by wallowing in self-pity. Get up! Now! Do something! Study, or whatever.'_

She resolutely got up and strode to her room, almost violently mashing the button to turn on her laptop. She waited for it to boot up, and then sat there, unmoving.

_'Great! You did something. Now do something again.'_

"But what?" she murmured to herself.

She moved the cursor to the browser icon and double-clicked. Immediately her social feeds started assaulting her with dozens of notifications and messages. She ignored them, instead browsing to Google. She slowly started typing a few words into the search bar.

'iceman killings new york'

The cursor blinked and her finger hovered over the enter-key.

_'You shouldn't do this. Anything but that. You'll regret this. Don't...'_ her finger pushed the button.

Immediately, links to newspaper articles and official statements appeared. A few images popped up as well, and for once Anna was glad she had safe-search turned on by default. She glanced over the descriptions beneath the linked pages. She halted at a sensational line, obviously designed for the most clicks possible.

'How does the Iceman serve his victims? Find out here at...'

The cursor moved to the link. She hesitated. _'You can still turn back. Don't click it!'_

She clicked. And spent the next half hour reading through dozens of articles claiming to know every nasty detail. The words started to blur when her eyes filled with tears again. 'heart carved out...filled with ice...head completely shaven...'

She finally slammed the laptop shut when she couldn't take it anymore. She was sick to the stomach, even with what little the authors of these articles actually knew. She stood up and started pacing around the room, trying to make sense of the maelstrom of thoughts and emotions coursing through her head. She wanted to smash something, some_one_, but at the same time she wanted to crawl under her covers, fall asleep and, when she woke up again, find that this all had been a nightmare. A horrible, detailed nightmare.

Eventually, the latter won out. She crawled into her bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes, and pulled her knees to her chest. A glance at the clock revealed that it was only 4 PM, but she didn't care. She just wanted to close her eyes and forget. It didn't work. For one, the room was too bright to sleep. More importantly, though, she couldn't shut down the thoughts, the images running wild.

With a heavy sigh she got up again and moved to her shelf, picking up the container she had placed there just a few hours ago. She then opened her closet and got out her bong, still filled with the stale water from last time. She didn't bother to change it. After grinding some of her weed and mixing it with tobacco, she put into the bowl, held a lighter to it and inhaled deeply. She tried to hold the smoke in as long as she could, and continued doing this until nothing was left in the bowl.

She kicked back, feeling her toes and fingertips getting tingly. Any minute now it would start, the pointless musings, the giggling at nothing, the insatiable hunger. But it didn't. Anna just felt empty. Completely devoid of any conscious thought. Not even the ungodly amount of pot she had just smoked got any happy feelings into her. At least the bad ones were gone now, too. She put the bong down, pulled the drapes and vanished under her comforter again, finally being able to sleep.

* * *

><p>Elsa plopped down into her chair with a sigh. Kristoff was still happily munching away on oreos, not feeling the slightest bit of shame for having 'procured' them in Anna's apartment.<p>

"Someone's been through my stuff" Elsa suddenly said. Kristoff looked up surprised, and for once demonstrated manners by swallowing his mouthful of cookies before speaking.

"What? How do you know that?"

"Well, for starters the mouse is on the wrong side of the keyboard. I'm left-handed. Also there's some sensitive documents lying about in the open. I _always_ put these out of sight." Elsa sighed, unsure how to proceed.

"Anything specific?" Kristoff asked.

Elsa looked over the documents. "Not really, just various testimonies, autopsy reports...all about the Iceman."

"Makes sense, since it's our only case." her partner replied.

Elsa contemplated for a bit. "But why would anyone go through my stuff? If they wanna help us out or something they just have to ask."

"Maybe it's captain Hitler, looking to dig up some dirt on you. You know Sobel hates it that he has absolutely no leverage over you, should anything happen."

"Maybe...well, nothing we can do about it right now." Elsa said with apprehension, starting to store away the files lying in the open. She didn't like that new development one bit. Something was very wrong.

Kristoff could sense how agitated his partner was. "Listen Els, I'm gonna go and make a few inquiries. Maybe someone has seen a person enter while we were gone."

"Thanks, Kris. But please be discreet."

Kristoff laughed. "I'm always discreet, sugartit."

_'Sugartit? Where the fuck does he pick up those ridiculous nicknames?'_ "Like that one time when someone replaced the regular coffee with decaf and you were literally running through the whole building, trying to find the culprit?"

"Coffee is serious business. This is just an office break-in where somebody got a look at confidential documents. No biggie." he said with a serious voice.

Elsa laughed, despite the situation. "Just go already. And while you're at it, get me some coffee, please?"

Kristoff smiled. "Black, with milk, no sugar?"

"You know it, pretty boy."

A few minutes later he returned with her coffee and took off again to make his ''discreet' inquiries (she could hear his rambunctious laughter through the closed door).

Somewhat calm again after sipping on her coffee, Elsa sat in her chair, once again going over all the evidence they had compiled. It wasn't much. The killer was very careful, and probably had experience with eliminating any trace that could lead to him. They had plenty of DNA on him, but he wasn't in any database they had access to. The girls always looked the same, and where always killed the same, but other than that there was not much of a pattern they could work out.

The victims had no overlapping social circles, didn't live in close proximity nor frequented the same bars and clubs. Only two of them had been at the same university, with very different majors. Their bodies were found in seemingly random locations, a bit off the main streets but close enough so they would be discovered by early-morning commuters, still freezing cold. It was obviously important to the 'Iceman' that the bodies were found with the ice not already molten. They always looked the same: head shaven, eyes gouged out, nose and lips removed. The heart was carved out, and there were several stab wounds on their breasts and lower abdomen, the genitalia was mutilated as well. And everything, the empty eye sockets, the mouth, the chest cavity where the heart used to be, even their vaginas were stuffed with ice.

_'It has obviously some deeper meaning for him. He wants to destroy their beauty, and preserve his work with the ice for as long as possible. But what does he want to tell us with the heart?'_

Luckily, the press knew very little about that, but even the few bits that had trickled through worked the public into a frenzy. The killer was at large for over a year now, and the commissioner was under heavy pressure to finally get some good news. _'If he finds out we have a facial composite he'll want it in the news ASAP. Not until we've found Nicole. Who knows what he'll do if we freak him out'_

Elsa rubbed her temples, feeling the onset of yet another headache. She picked up her phone and dialed the front desk. "Phyllis? Yeah, it's McKay. Do we have any new info, any sightings on Nicole Summers or the Iceman? Okay, make sure to inform me right away if something _does_ come in. Thanks." She groaned and leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling. _'There must be _something_! Anything. Everybody slips up once in a while.' _Yet she didn't see it. There was no tangible lead anywhere, and even the picture hadn't gotten them any closer. She grabbed the autopsy reports again, looking for something she might have overlooked the first hundred times she had studied them. She knew them by heart by now, and she knew she wouldn't find anything there, either. Still, she had to busy herself somehow.

The reports were infuriatingly similar. No unusual substances. Traces of zolpidem, ibuprofen, penicilin. Some of the victims had traces of lyergic acid diethylamide and benzoylmethylecgonine, others had tetrahydrocannabinol or 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine in their bodies. The usual party drugs and the occasional blunt, nothing out of the ordinary. Elsa was slowly growing desperate, and every passing minute meant less time to rescue Nicole.

After a while, Kristoff returned to their office. "Hey Els. Studying the autopsies again?"

Elsa sighed and tossed the files on her desk. "Yeah."

"Did anything magically appear that wasn't there the first fifty times you read them?"

"Nope." Elsa replied, rubbing her tired eyes. "Did you come up with any info on our little house guest?"

"Nobody saw or heard anything."

"Figures." Elsa said with a scoff. "It probably _was_ Sobel or one of his lackeys sniffing around."

She glanced at her watch. _'2PM already?'_

"Let's go grab some late lunch. We won't get anything done in here anyway."

Kristoff just shrugged and followed her outside.

* * *

><p><strong>Zolpidem<strong> – active ingredient in common sleeping pills, like Ambien

**Ibuprofen** – active ingredient in cold medicine and painkillers, like Advil

**Peniciln** – antibiotic

**lyergic acid diethylamide** – LSD

**benzoylmethylecgonine** – cocaine

**tetrahydrocannabinol** – THC, as in weed

**3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine** – MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy

* * *

><p><strong>would you look at that, it's monday already (at least where i live). which means a new chapter for you guys. i hope you like it. special thanks go out to converge for writing the song 'all we love we leave behind' which was kinda an inspiration for this story and is on repeat ever since i started writing this. look it up on youtube.<br>**

**i'm also still looking for a beta. don't be shy about messaging me folks, for beta-ing or other, completely unrelated stuff. i only bite if you want me to ;)**

**reviews/suggestions/feddback is, as always, very welcome**

**peace out**


	4. Break-in

Elsa was stumbling through the dark. She couldn't see her own hand before her eyes, but knew there was someone else, close to her. She decided to just wander off into a direction, hopeful to bump into the person. Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the distance, illuminating someone from behind. It was a feminine figure, but her features were shrouded in darkness. Only her beautiful black hair could be seen. Elsa took off into her direction, walking resolutely. The prospect of meeting that person filled her with a feeling of peace and content, so she sped up. She held out her hand to touch the person, but just moments before she could do so, the light went out again and she grasped into thin air. She heard a scream behind her and whirled around, to see that same figure in front of another bright light, but this time with her head bowed. Another person, obviously a male, slowly strode up to her from behind. The sight filled her with an ominous sense of foreboding, which quickly turned into dread when she saw the newcomer holding a knife. She wanted to shout out, but no sound left her lips. Just as the man lifted the knife to stab the girl from behind, she shot up in her bed, drenched in sweat.

She quickly realized that it was the ringing of her phone that had forced her out of the nightmare, thankfully before the worst part happened. Not that it mattered, she had seen it happen countless times anyway. She reached for the phone and frowned when she didn't recognize the number, but picked up anyway.

"McKay." she simply said.

"Elsa?" It was Anna's terrified voice.

"Anna? What's wrong?" Elsa said, immediately wide awake.

"There's someone trying to get inside. They're doing something to the door. Please help me, I'm scared!"

_'Stay calm, Elsa.'_ "Okay, first of all, move away from that door! Then, say loud and clear 'I've called the police, they'll be here any minute. Go away.'"

She got up and frantically tried to get dressed with one hand while listening to what was going on.

"I...I think it worked." Anna whispered, "there's no more sounds coming from the door."

Elsa quickly switched the phone to her other hand to slip into a shirt.

"Okay, but we better not take any chances. Can you lock the door to your room?"

"Yes."

"Good, then go there and lock it. I'm on my way. I'll stay with you on the phone."

She grabbed her badge and her gun, stuffing both into her belt and ran out the door. Once in her car she turned on the mobile radio. "Dispatch, this is detective McKay 3141, I need backup at 91 Astoria Boulevard. ASAP. Code 5-15, imminent danger!"

She floored the accelerator and took off into the night with screeching tires, emergency lights turned on. "3141 this is Dispatch. A patrol car is on it's way. ETA ten minutes."

_'That's not fucking fast enough!'_ "Anna are you still with me?"

"Yes, I'm here, I'm alright."

"Okay. Stay in your room and do not let anybody in until I say so, even if they claim to be from the police."

"Okay. When will you be here?"

Elsa thought about the route. "Depends on the traffic, but I should make it in about fifteen minutes."

She sped through the streets, running every red light with reckless abandon. All the while she talked to Anna and tried to calm her down. When she was just a few blocks away, there was another knock on Anna's door.

"Elsa, there's someone on the front door again. They say they're police."

"Okay, tell them to show you their badges through the peephole and tell me their numbers. Do _not_ open the door!"

Anna did as she was told. "Uh, the numbers are 4107 and 4115."

"Okay, hold on a sec." - "Dispatch this is McKay 3141, confirm service numbers of officers on-site at 91 Astoria Boulevard, 4107 and 4115." After a few tense seconds she got the reply. "3141 this is Dispatch. These numbers are correct."

Elsa sighed in relief. "Roger Dispatch, 3141 out."

She put the phone against her ear again. "Okay Anna, they are with us. You can let them in. Let me talk to one of them."

"Hello?" a male voice spoke through the phone.

"This is detective Elsa McKay, 3141, identify yourself."

"Officer David Rodriguez, 4107. With me is my partner, officer Klein, 4115. How may we help you, detective?"

"Just make sure the girl is safe, officer. I'll be there momentarily. Give the phone back to her, please."

"Elsa?" Anna's voice again.

"Hey Anna, I'm almost there. Do whatever the officers say, okay? I'll hang up now, I can already see your house. See you in a minute."

"Okay. Bye"

The line went dead the moment Elsa screeched to a halt. Without bothering to lock her car she ran to the intercom and rang number three. Once she was upstairs she took a good look at the door. There were obvious signs of someone trying to crack the lock, luckily with little success. She knocked, and was welcomed by an officer demanding to see her badge. When she showed it to him he fully opened the door, saying "Good morning, detective." with a smirk. Elsa glanced at her watch. 3:51 AM.

"Good morning, officer...Rodriguez, right?" she replied, eying his badge number.

"Correct." he replied. "Eddie's with the girl on the couch, trying to calm her down. He's better at this than I am."

Elsa nodded an entered the room, seeing the other officer in a futile attempt to console a shaking Anna.

"Is everything alright, here, officer?" Elsa called out.

Anna turned around and visibly calmed upon seeing her.

The other policeman got up and walked over to her. "She got scared good, but other than that she seems to be fine." In a low voice he asked "How did you know she was in trouble?"

Elsa sighed. "She's a witness in an ongoing case and has my number. When she heard something at the door she must have panicked and called me instead of 911."

He nodded in understanding. "Well, looks like she got lucky. The door is pretty banged up, though."

Elsa looked at Anna who was now sitting on the couch with her head down, lost in thoughts.

"Well, thank you guys for responding so quickly. I'll take over now and let you get back to your duties."

All three cops went to the front door and looked at it warily.

"Want us to call in forensics to take a look at that, detective?" one of them said.

"That would be nice, thank you. When's your shift over?"

"Three more hours and then it's off to bed." Rodriguez said with a smile that turned into a yawn.

"Well then, have a nice and quiet night. See you around."

They both inclined their heads and went down the stairs. Elsa closed and locked the door again. When she turned around she was tackled by a blur of red hair. Anna wrapped her arms around the flabbergasted blonde sobbing into her shoulder.

"Thank you so much for coming. I just panicked and didn't know what to do so I called you instead of 911 but I'm glad you're here now and sorry I really didn't want to wake you up I was just so scared and did the first thing that came to my mind which was 'call Elsa!' and looking back I realize that it was really stupid. I'm so sorry for waking you up."

After the initial surprise Elsa tentatively returned the embrace and chuckled after Anna had finished with her word-vomit.

"It's quite alright, Anna. You did the right thing by calling me. A detective ordering backup tends to get people in uniform here faster than 'I heard something at my door'. And who said you woke me up?"

Anna managed to giggle through her sobs. "You haven't looked into a mirror, have you?"

Elsa's response of widening her eyes in shock and shooting her hands up to her hair made Anna laugh.

"Shit." Elsa gasped, furiously trying to get her wild bedhead under control. "You don't happen to have a brush lying around that I could borrow?" Elsa asked, blushing.

"As a matter of fact I do." Anna replied, vanishing into her room and returning shortly thereafter, handing Elsa her brush.

"Thank you." Elsa said with a shy smile.

"Anything for the dashing hero flying to my rescue, completely ignoring her own appearance in the process."

"I'm just doing my job, Anna." Elsa said with a small laugh.

"Oh so you are on duty tonight? What you your superiors say when they knew you slept on the job?"

Elsa rolled her eyes. "God you're just as bad as Kristoff."

"Oh yes. Him." Anna said with an icy voice. "You better tell him to bring a whole truckload of oreos if he ever dares showing his face again."

Elsa froze mid-brush when she saw Anna's serious face, but the redhead couldn't stop a smirk from appearing.

"I guess he thought I wouldn't notice because basically half my pantry is oreos." she said. "But considering you have been so sweet all the time and came at 4 AM when I needed you, we'll call it even."

Elsa smiled and continued trying to reign in her rebellious hair. Eventually she just gave up and decided to put it into a messy ponytail. Just then she remembered that she went to bed without bothering to remove her makeup, and immediately blushed again. "Would you mind if I used your bathroom?"

"Not at all." Anna replied, showing her the door.

To her relief, Elsa saw that her eyeshadow was just a little bit smudged. She removed it with a pad and applied some eyeliner. When she returned, Anna was in the process of pouring two cups of coffee.

"Oh thank god, just what I needed right now." Elsa said, suddenly acutely aware of how tired she was, now that the adrenaline had left her system.

Anna smiled. "Sugar and no milk, right?"

Elsa nodded. Anna reached for a cupboard, but remembered the sugar was still in her room. She went there to retrieve it, only to tip something over with an audible crash. "Fucking shit! Not again."

"Do you need help?" Elsa called out from the kitchen.

"No, I'm just a klutz as always." Anna yelled back. She came back to the kitchen to dump some broken glassware into the trash. Elsa smiled when she recognized the bong.

"It's the third one I've broken in just as many months." Anna said with a blush.

Elsa laughed, and they both stood there in an awkward silence until she pointed to her coffee.

"Oh right, still no sugar" Anna gasped, smacking her head. This time she made it back without incident and watched in amazement as Elsa dumped a little mountain of white crystals into her mug. She then grabbed her own and took a small sip.

"Um, should we sit down?"

"Sure, why not." Elsa said. Anna led them to the couch. Once they both sat down Elsa couldn't hold back a yawn.

"Sorry again for waking you up. I feel horrible about it."

Elsa smiled. "It's really not a big deal. I don't sleep too well anyway."

Anna sent her a questioning look.

"Just...bad dreams." Elsa said, apprehension in her voice. She could see the redhead wanted to ask her about it but chose to remain silent, which she was very thankful for. She had never told anybody about the nightmare she was having every night for the past nine years.

They sat in silence, sipping at their coffee and glancing around the room, both trying not to look at the other.

After a while, Anna spoke up again. "Um...so now that the danger's over I guess you'll want to go home again?"

Elsa could her in her voice that she wasn't very fond of the idea.

"No, I'll stay until the captain comes in, then I'll arrange for a security detail to stay with you 24/7. Un-unless you want me to go?"

"No!" Anna said much too quickly. "Um, no. I, ah, I feel safe having you around." She smiled shyly.

"This isn't standard procedure, is it?" she asked after a while.

Elsa pretended to take a sip from her empty cup to hide her blushing face. "No, it isn't. I just want to make sure you're safe."

"Why?" the redhead simply asked.

_'Yes, why? Because she's so much like her, that's why!'_ Elsa thought for a while, trying to find the right words. "You remind me of my...of _someone_, a person very close to me that I lost a few years ago. I guess I try to protect you to kinda make up for it that I couldn't protect her. Subconsciously or something like that."

Anna took in the words, and came to the only logical conclusion. "She was your girlfriend, wasn't she?" she said quietly.

Elsa just nodded with her head hanging low, still holding onto the empty cup as if her life depended on it. Just thinking about her made all the hurt well up again, all the pain she had fought so hard to bury and forget. They fell quiet again.

"What was her name?" Anna asked suddenly. Elsa's eyes shot up, intently studying Anna's face. The redhead squirmed under her scrutiny.

"Just forget I asked, I'm sorry. You're obviously uncomfortable and I'm an insensitive social retard, as always."

She averted her face and started worrying over the hem of her shirt. She was certain to have killed the fragile sapling of friendship and trust that was growing between them, when Elsa spoke up unexpectedly. "Julia" she said, barely a whisper. "her name was Julia."

Anna looked up, and mentally kicked herself for bringing up the topic in the first place. She could see Elsa was still hurting.

"That's a beautiful name." Anna said, not trusting her brain to come up with anything else.

"Yes." Elsa said, smiling wistfully.

They both jumped when they heard a scraping sound coming from the front door. Elsa motioned for Anna to stay put and walked to the door, looking through the peephole. She could only see a figure crouching down, obviously inspecting the lock.

"I'm armed and with the NYPD. Identify yourself!" she shouted through the door, left hand moving to the firearm by her side.

"I'm officer Pulaski with forensics. I was dispatched to investigate a 5-15?" came the muffled reply. Elsa relaxed visibly, but kept her hand on the gun, just to be sure. She unlocked and opened the door and peeked outside, relieved when she recognized the man.

"Dave! Funny they would send you."

The man was equally surprised to see her. "I certainly didn't expect to see _you_ here, Elsa. A very pleasant surprise, mind you." he said with a smirk.

His attention returned to the door. "Looks ugly. What happened?"

Elsa sighed. "At about zero three thirty an unidentified suspect tried to gain entry into the apartment. The tenant is involved in an ongoing case of mine and called me for help."

Dave nodded. "Any news on that guy?"

Elsa simply shook her head. Everyone at the precinct knew that she and Kristoff were only working on one case.

"Well then, better get to work" he said, now completely blocking out everything else. He murmured to himself and occasionally shook his head while inspecting the door closer, before beginning the usual process of taking fingerprints and photographs.

"That wasn't a very handy man, I can tell you that." he said after a while. "A person who knows what they're doing would have that lock open in fifteen seconds, and wouldn't even wake up a cat in the process."

He scratched the back of his neck and then shook his head again. "Looks to me like they tried to force the door open at first, maybe with a crowbar, and when that didn't work they took a screwdriver to the lock. Morning ma'am!"

The last sentence made Elsa turn around, and she saw that Anna had silently come up behind her to see what was going on. She gave a shy wave to the other policeman.

Ten minutes later, Dave began packing up. "Looks like I'm done here." He turned to Anna."You'll have to at least replace the lock, but if you want my opinion, you should replace the whole damn door with something sturdier. I honestly can't imagine how that guy managed to _not_ force the door open, especially with the tools he obviously had with him. Anyway, I'll be off now." He looked at Elsa. "See you at the station?"

"Sure thing." she replied, "bye."

"Alright, see ya." Looking at Anna, he said "Goodbye, Miss." and walked down the stairs.

Elsa closed and locked the door again. Turning around she saw Anna had moved to the kitchen.

"I assume you'd like another cup?" she asked.

Elsa smiled. "Yes, please."

She moved to the couch and sat down, mulling over the strange events of the night. _'It just doesn't make sense. If he really wanted to get inside, he could have done it. Does he just want to scare her? Maybe it wasn't even him, just some druggie neighbor who confused the doors...no, no it was him alright. But why?'_

She was yanked out of her thoughts when Anna slightly tugged at her shoulder, pointing at the mug sitting before her on the coffee table.

"Thank you." Elsa mumbled, embarrassed that she hadn't noticed Anna setting it down. She took a sip and hummed with content. "Your coffee is really good."

Anna just smiled and made a dismissive hand gesture. An awkward silence once again descended on them, both women fighting to find an appropriate topic for a conversation.

"So, college." Elsa finally said. "What are you studying?"

Anna brightened at the question. "Well, my major is political science, and as a minor I've picked English Literature."

Elsa raised an eyebrow at Anna's words, but her question was cut off by the redhead.

"I know it sounds pretty weird, like that wouldn't fit me. Don't worry, I get that a lot." she said with a laugh.

"It's just...my dad was mayor at the little town I spent my childhood in, and in his last year even a State Representative, until he died of a heart attack. I guess I kinda take after him in that regard. I just want to do something meaningful, tackle the big issues, you know? And, well, you can only really do that if you have a modicum of power, or else people just ignore you."

Elsa eyed her with a mix of admiration and sadness. _'They're so much alike. So much.'_ She forced a smile onto her face. "Well, as far as I can tell you have your heart in the right place."

Anna blushed furiously and looked at her feet. "Thank you."

After a while she said "I still have to practice that speaking thing, though."

Elsa laughed. "You could use some practice, yes. But I'm sure you'll do just fine."

They continued to talk about university, which lectures were particularly interesting and which weren't, why she chose to live in an apartment rather than on campus, and time just flew by. With a start Elsa noticed the first beams of the sun rising over the skyline creeping through the window. She glanced at her watch. _'Almost 7 AM. Captain should be in by now.'_

"Listen Anna, I'm gonna call Hitler-um my captain...shit did I just really say that out loud?"

Anna stared at her incredulously before breaking into hysterical laughter. Elsa was at a complete loss for words and just sat there, a stupid half-smile on her face.

Anna had finally calmed down enough to speak and said, still fighting giggles "You really don't like him, huh?"

"Not really, no." Elsa said. "He's...a dick." She wanted to say 'crooked to the bone', 'selectively promoting his friends', 'keeping files on every subordinate that would make J. Edgar Hoover proud'. Instead she settled on 'dick', which was just as apt and wouldn't get her into too much trouble with the Internal Affairs Bureau.

"Still, I better call him to arrange everything for your protection."

She stood up and fingered her phone out of her pocket and dialed his number.

"Hey Captain, it's McKay...Yeah, I'll come in late today, there's been an incident with my witness...Come again?...Oh, someone tried to enter her apartment. My suspicion is that our guy wanted to intimidate her into staying quiet. She'll need a security detail 24/7 and...what?...What do you mean, understaffed?! There's like twenty people constantly sitting at their desk with their thumbs up their ass because they've got nothing to do!...I don't...Well thanks for nothing! I'll still be late, _someone_ has to keep her safe...yeah whatever, knock yourself out!"

She hung up and hurled her phone into the couch, where it bounced off and tumbled to the floor.

"That _fucking_ asshole!" Elsa yelled, pacing around the room. "Just because he doesn't have any dirt on me he's deliberately sabotaging my case!" She stopped, rubbing her temples. Anna apparently decided that for once it would be better if she stayed quiet, moving instead to pick up the discarded phone and see if it was damaged. It wasn't, but this clearly wasn't the first time Elsa had done something like that, judging from the banged-up state of the device.

After a few moments of silence, Elsa turned around and pointed to Anna's room.

"Go pack an overnight bag with all your necessities and a few sets of spare clothes. Don't forget the stuff you need for school."

Anna had no idea what Elsa was going at. "What, why would I...?" She trailed off when she saw Elsa's determined expression, clearly accepting no talking back whatsoever.

"Where am I going?" Anna asked as she moved to her room.

"My place." Elsa stated flatly. "I won't let you stay here on your own."

Elsa could see Anna stop for the briefest moment before she continued into her room, packing whatever she thought necessary. Underwear, several shirts and pants, a few sweaters and coats. She tried stuffing all of the textbooks she would need into her backpack, but ended up dropping them into a second bag instead. When she was finished she put the bags next to her door and made a round through the rooms to check if everything was switched off, then returned to a waiting Elsa.

"Do you think this will be enough?" she asked the blonde.

"If things go well you won't need even half of the stuff you packed, but better safe than sorry." she replied with a smile.

Elsa grabbed the bag with the books which was surprisingly heavy, but got it downstairs nonetheless. Anna followed after locking the door behind her, with considerable trouble due to the night's events.

They sat in the car in silence while they drove, until Elsa spoke up. "Do you need to go to school today?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then we'll just drop your stuff off at my place and I'll take you there."

Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Elsa cut her off. "I won't take no for an answer. When will you be finished?"

"Um...around five I believe."

"Alright. Just give me a call and I'll pick you up. You'll get a tour of the house and your own key then."

She saw Anna squirm in her seat.

"What?" Elsa said in an annoyed tone she immediately regretted.

"It's just...this is way too much, Elsa. I can't expect you to do all this for me."

Elsa smiled. "Well, you didn't expect it, and I'm doing it anyway. Unless you want me to take you into preventative custody?" she added with a smirk.

"Um...well, your place sounds just fine."

Elsa laughed. "Thought so. Now shut up about it."

Anna stuck her tongue out. "Talk about police brutality. You're violating so many of my rights right now."

"It's not like I forced you at gunpoint. And if you insist I can still turn around." Elsa said with a glint of mischief in her eyes.

"Alright, alright, I'll be quiet." Anna replied with a smile.

When they arrived at Elsa's apartment building, she got out of the car and grabbed the bags sitting on the back seat. "Stay in the car, I won't be long. Do you have all the material you need today?"

Anna took a quick peek into her backpack and nodded.

"Alright, stay put." With that she walked into the building, carrying the heavy bags seemingly without effort. When she vanished through the doors, Anna looked around. It was a very nice neighborhood, unusually clean for New York. She took note of the little Italian restaurant at the corner and wondered if Elsa liked to eat there.

Suddenly the door was yanked open and Elsa got back into the car. "What did I say, not three minutes." she said with a radiant smile. "Now, where to?"

Anna gave her directions to campus and they set off.

* * *

><p>An hour later, Elsa walked through the doors of the precinct and made a beeline for her office.<p>

Kristoff was already sitting at his desk, grinning when he saw her getup. "You look like shit."

"I hate you too, Kris." Elsa replied with a laugh.

"Rough night again?"

"You could say that" she replied when she fell into her chair.

"Do you know her name at least, this time?"

"Yeah," she replied, reproducing the dirty grin he had shot her a few days before "Anna Keller."

His face was priceless. "You're shitting me, right?"

"Nope. But it's not what you think" she said in a serious tone. "_Someone _tried to break into her apartment tonight, and she called me. I stayed there to make sure she was safe and tried to get her a security detail. But Hitler shot me down." She glanced to the door to make sure it was closed. "This _must not_ leave this room, alright? I've taken her to my place for a while, I don't know who I can trust in here, besides you. Something here stinks ten miles upwind. First someone goes through my case files, now Sobel won't give me a security detail because we're _understaffed_..." She scoffed, leaning back in her chair.

Her phone rang, and she knew exactly who was calling her. "Speak of the devil." she sighed before picking up.

"McKay...Yes, _captain_." She spat the last word with as much venom as she could muster and hung up.

"Well, I'm off to the gallows. Wish me luck."

Kristoff just sighed and massaged his temple. Apparently she was rubbing off on him.

She made her way to his office, his secretary just waving her through when she arrived.

"Close the door, please." he said after she entered. "Sit." He motioned to a chair in front of his desk.

"You know what this is about, detective?"

Elsa despised the man. "Mardi Gras?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

He leaned back and, to her surprise, chuckled. "Very funny, McKay. This is a perfect example. Your recent behavior has been unacceptable. You waltz in when you please, talk to witnesses when you're not on duty, cause a ruckus in the office..." he was obviously referring to Kristoff's antics the day before.

"I'll give you a last warning." he continued, "The next infraction will get an official reprimand, and you wouldn't want that when you're up for review, now, would you?"

Elsa stared at him. _'The audacity!_' "Are you threatening me?" she said in a cold voice.

She had to fight hard not to just get up and slap him across the face when she saw his smug smile.

"Not at all, detective. Just some..._friendly advice_ between colleagues. And you better make some headway on the Iceman-case. As far as I'm aware you've made no progress at all for the last two months."

That was the last straw. "I would if I knew the only fucking witness was safe!" she yelled, standing up.

"There's no need to get loud. I told you we're..."

"Understaffed, yeah. Save it." She leaned down on his desk and stared him straight into the eyes. He held her stare, but she was pleased to see the nervous twitch in his eyelids.

"If that's all, _captain_." she said, straightening her back. "I'll go _make some headway_. Don't stand up, I'll show myself out."

With that she turned on her heel and strutted out of the room, head high. She didn't bother closing the door, but noted with a small smile all the heads suddenly turning away. There was no doubt they all had heard her yelling, and seen her swagger out of his office.

She groaned when she fell back into her chair after slamming her own door shut.

"That bad?" Kristoff asked.

"I'll get an _official reprimand_ on my _next infraction_." she said in a mocking voice. "Hitler is too nice for him. From now on he's Stalin. Suits him better anyway, with that obnoxious face caterpillar he calls a beard."

Kristoff chuckled. At that moment there was a knock at the door and a familiar shock of jet-black hair poked into their office.

"Hey there, lovebirds."

"Hey Neil." Elsa replied, trying to hide the strain in her voice. "What's up?"

"I heard there was a break-in at your witness' place?"

Elsa eyed him warily. "How did_ you_ hear about that?"

He laughed. "Oh, I had a chat with Dave from forensics. He told me you were there. Just wanted to make sure everything's alright."

Elsa smiled. "Yeah, I've got it under control. Thank you for asking, though."

He hesitated. "Um, would like to get a beer or two after work?"

Elsa chuckled. "Thank you, but no. I'm just about to keel over from the case and Sobel being a pain in the ass, I need some time alone. We'll definitely do something soon, though. I'll come find you when I have time, okay?"

Neil smiled. "It's alright, don't worry about it. How about you, Kristoff?"

"Uh, sure, why not? I get off at five, you?"

"Same here. Let's meet in the lobby."

"Alright, See ya later, Neil."

"Bye, lovebirds."

And with that he was gone.

Kristoff chuckled. "Well, at least it's just drinks and no dinner now. You think he's finally catching on?"

"I sure hope so. I've shot him down more often than I can count in the past three years. I kinda feel bad about it, I mean he really tries to be sweet and all, but he's just not my type."

"Too clingy?"

"Too male" she replied with a chuckle. "Now, let's get some work done. Has the report from Dave come in yet?"

Elsa glanced at her watch. 10 AM. Only seven more hours until she got out of this hellhole.

* * *

><p><strong>hey guys. you get another early chapter, consider it a christmas gift :)<strong>

**i had a blast writing this chapter, and i hope you enjoy it as well**

**still looking for a beta btw**

**reviews/suggestions/feedback as always encouraged and appreciated**

**peace out and merry christmas to y'all!**


	5. Remembrance

Anna was standing at the entrance to the main campus building, nervously fiddling with the straps of her backpack. Today had been a mess. Still scared and exhausted from the night's events, she had dozed off several times during the lectures, only to jolt awake again when her head slipped off the hand it was resting on. Suffice it to say that she had absolutely no idea what today's lectures were about. She glanced at her watch again. Ten past five.

_'I hope she comes soon. I mean, ten minutes, it's not that much, right? And she said on the phone that she might be a bit late. Yeah, she did. But what if she has to work overtime because they found an important lead? No, she would've called me then to let me know. What if she had an accident? Oh calm down, will ya? Ten minutes late in rush hour is like half an hour early. She'll probably be here at six or something. Should I get something to eat in the meantime? I'm really hungry. But what if she wants to cook dinner tonight, and I can't eat anything because I've already had a snack here? That would be so rude. Wow, from 'ten minutes late' to 'dinner with the hot detective', how did that happen. Wait, hot detective? How did _that _happen?!'_

She was thrown back into the real world by a laugh coming from her side. She turned to see Elsa standing next to her, obviously amused.

_'Shit! How long have I been out? How long has she been standing there? She's thinking I'm an airhead now, just a stupid girl with big dreams that will end up as a waitress in some grimy diner. Which will probably happen anyway, I mean, what are the chances that I ever get elected into any kind of office? 'Vote Keller 2020, stimulating the economy by breaking everything she touches and having to replace it.' That actually doesn't sound too bad. The Vote Keller 2020 part, I mean. Not the rest. That's not good at all.'_

"Am I really so hideous that you have to escape into your dreamworld?" Elsa said in a mock hurt voice, forcing her out of her thoughts again. She blushed furiously.

"Um, hi, I...no, oh god no, please don't think that you're ugly, you're gorgeous! Wait, what? That came out wrong. Not that you're not gorgeous, I mean you most _definitely_ am, but I shouldn't have said that and now I feel really stupid, and...yeah...right about now would be the appropriate time for the ground to open up and swallow me whole, please?"

She looked at her feet, her face almost as red as her hair, but she couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips when she heard Elsa's wholehearted laughter.

"You know, you're really cute when you drift off and then ramble like a wind-up toy, but I just hope you won't do that while holding a speech at the Senate. Not even your extraordinary cuteness would help you there."

_'She thinks I'm cute. Seriously? No, she was being honest! I can already hear the bells chime. Wait, _what?! _You're not even into women! Okay, well sort of. But you have a boyfriend! Do I actually have a boyfriend? I mean that was a pretty bad fight, and we haven't talked since, but I don't know. Shit, she's said something. You're doing it again! Snap out of it! Now!'_

"I don't have a boyfriend." she blurted. _'Oh my god. Abort! Abort! Where are the lifejackets on this thing?'_

"Come again?" Elsa said, truly confused now.

"I, um, I...could we please just get going before I have to lie down and die of embarrassment?"

Elsa chuckled. "Sure thing, Anna." She motioned to where her car was parked.

"You know, I would never have believed your face could actually match your hair color. Gives a whole new meaning to 'redhead'."

Anna stumbled and almost fell down the stairs if Elsa hadn't caught her.

"Gotcha!" she said. "Okay, no more jokes while you're walking down stairs. Or maybe walking in general." A sly smirk graced her features.

Anna hadn't registered a single word that had left Elsa's mouth. All of her attention was focused on those lips moving, then forming into a grin. Those lips, mere inches away. She really wanted to lean in and capture them with her own, savoring their taste, wallowing in their softness. Those lips, now in a frown.

"Are you alright?" Elsa asked, concern in her voice.

"Uh, yeah, I'm...I just...the day has been really long and...why is it so hot all of a sudden? It's early October, it shouldn't be this hot outside, right? It's like eighty degrees, that can't be right."

Elsa just shook her head, smiling again. "So adorable." she mumbled to herself. "Well, let's just get to the car so you can sit down and not have to worry about your legs, because I think your mind is preoccupied right now."

"Y-yeah, that sounds like a plan."

They reached the car without further incident, and Anna was proud to actually manage to keep her mouth shut. She couldn't help the nervous fiddling around with the seatbelt, though.

Elsa soon noticed her distress, and spoke up. "Wanna hear some awesome Norwegian music?"

"Yes, duh. What a question." she replied with a laugh.

Elsa switched from station to CD playback, and immediately loud guitars, drums and screaming came blaring out the speakers. To her own surprise, Anna actually liked the music, although she suspected she did so mainly because Elsa liked it.

"I don't understand most of it, but it's just about drinking and women, right?"

Elsa laughed. "Pretty much, yes. Do you like it?"

"Yes! It sounds really good! What are they called?"

Elsa smiled, obviously pleased that Anna liked her music. "Kvelertak. One of the few heavy Norwegian bands that are, like, legally allowed to _not_ be just Black Metal." She laughed.

Anna joined in her laughter. "Yeah I know. Gotta burn down at least two churches or you're just a poser, right?"

Their banter went back and forth from Norwegian music to Norwegian cuisine (lutefisk. ew. but the meatballs are delicious!) to Norwegian landscape (so gorgeous!) to Texan landscape (it's greener than you think! really beautiful) to Minnesotan landscape (there's like, a million places nobody has ever set foot in) to Minnesotan winter (so beautiful, but you better bring another butt because yours will freeze off), and before they knew it they had spent over an hour talking in the parked car in the underground garage. Elsa glanced at the watch and saw with a shock that it was well past 7 PM.

"Well, we better get inside, don't you think?"

Anna nodded and they both got out of the care and went for the elevator.

* * *

><p>Elsa led her to a plain white door with the number 45 on it, anticipation building as her imagination ran wild about what Elsa's apartment would look like.<p>

The hallway was as could be expected: a coat-rack by the door, a small cabinet with a bowl for keys. Two doors leading into as of yet unexplored rooms. It opened into a spacious living room. Anna drank in her surroundings. The walls were unadorned, not a single picture or painting anywhere in sight. There was a lot of white. White walls, white furniture. The arrangement was precise. The white couch stood the perfect distance from the large flatscreen TV resting on a small cabinet, a snug little coffee table in between. A small stereo nestled into a corner. The dining table a little ways off, surrounded by matching chairs, close to the open doorway which, she presumed, lead into the kitchen. The whole room was full of straight lines and sharp angles. To Anna the room seemed sober, austere even. The only color came from the backs of books, filling several shelves at the back wall, flanking a large window. She made a mental note to go exploring those shelves at the earliest opportunity.

Only after a while Anna started to pick up the small things that hinted at someone actually living there. A book with a marker resting on the coffee table. Remotes haphazardly strewn across the couch. A tall, half burned-down candle on the dining table. What caught her attention was one shelf that differed from the others. She went over there to inspect it more closely.

On it, there rested a small plush cat square in the middle, a few mementos on both sides. Coins from a currency she didn't recognize, a heart-shaped locket without a necklace, a keychain with a die on it. Behind it lay the bow of a violin, and leaning against the back of the shelf she saw an envelope, addressed only to J. A thick layer of dust coated the shelf, a stark contrast to the otherwise spotless room. Anna felt a lump in her throat. It was like a little shrine, undisturbed for who knows how many years, and she felt like an intruder.

She suddenly felt an urge to touch something. She knew she shouldn't, but her hand moved on it's own accord. It reached for the locket, taking it off the shelf. Opening it, she saw the picture of a young Asian woman, somewhere in her late teens. She had beautiful straight hair, and a bright smile graced her lips. Dark eyes looked at her, full of life and optimism, innocent and unaware of the cruelties of the world. Now she had an image of the person that had managed to steal Elsa's heart away, still holding captive long after her death. "You're beautiful" she whispered.

"Yes, she was."

Anna whirled around to see Elsa leaning against the corner of another hallway, changed into more comfortable clothes. Her voice hadn't been harsh, accusing or reprimanding; rather full of affection, with a hint of hundreds of words that remained unsaid. Her expression was soft, a small smile on her lips, but a deep sadness in her eyes that almost strangled Anna. She felt like she had committed a capital crime. She had invaded Elsa's most personal space, had desecrated this place of remembrance, tainted it for all eternity.

"Elsa..." Words caught in her throat. "I'm so...so sorry. God, I'm such an asshole, you invite to your home and first thing I do...I'm terrible." She felt her lip starting to tremble.

Elsa just shook her head and walked over to her. She gently took the locket Anna was still holding, looking at it for a few moments. In a span of not even two seconds, Anna saw so much raw emotion in Elsa's eyes. Love and grief, comfort, happiness and such a profound sadness she had never experienced in her life. The blonde closed the locket and gingerly placed it back onto the shelf, right into the heart-shaped imprint in the dust. Her fingers remained for a few seconds, almost as in reverence, and when her hand moved away it looked like the shelf had never been disturbed.

The silence between them became heavier and heavier, threatening to crush Anna. She felt the need to say something, to apologize, to comfort, _anything_.

"Elsa, I..." Elsa just laid a finger on her mouth, and Anna died. Died and went to heaven. Just a split second before, Anna would have done anything to escape this situation, but now she never wanted it to end. The finger on her mouth felt like the first sunbeam on skin after a night that lasted a lifetime.

"It's okay, Anna." Elsa said, barely audible. "It's okay."

When she took her finger away, Anna felt like a limb of her own had been torn off. The world looked desaturated. All the colors had lost their shine. All except the blue of Elsa's eyes. She stared into those eyes, drinking their color, stripping down to her soul in a mad desire to show them her very essence. She didn't know how long they stood there, unmoving, looking into each others eyes. It could have been five seconds or ten years.

It was Elsa who eventually broke their gaze. She turned her face and looked at the shelf again, prompting Anna to do the same.

"It's all hers" she said. "Little gifts she gave me over the months. The plush cat was the very first one, even before we were a couple. She was so shy about it, afraid that I'd find it stupid and laugh at her." She chuckled.

"Those coins are 3041 yen. Her dad had brought them back from a visit to his family in Japan, and I liked how exotic they looked, especially the 50 yen-coin, with the hole in the middle. She just gave them to me and said that I would have more fun with them than she."

"The chain was actually her own, but she gave it to me when she saw that I had only like two keys on my keyring and nothing else, and she decided that this was an affront to all of humanity. I never actually put it on my keyring but on a necklace instead. That prompted her to give me the locket on our six month-anniversary. I remember feeling so bad about it because I hadn't gotten her anything, I was close to tears. She just held me in her arms and said that the greatest gift to her would be that I wear it every day until she dies. I haven't worn it since then."

Anna tried to swallow the lump in her throat, feeling her eyes misting over. _'Don't you dare start crying now! She's telling you probably her deepest, most intimate memories. Whatever you do don't cry you sentimental idiot!'_

Elsa was quiet now, seemingly lost in her memories. "I'm sure you're wondering about the violin bow." she said suddenly, almost startling Anna.

"Um, yes?" she responded. _'Yes, great, just show her how very _not_ sophisticated you are. At least you didn't throw up.'_

Elsa smiled. "I know it's a bit cliché, the Asian kid playing a classical instrument, but she really loved it. And she was so good at it. She could play anything, from Mozart to Schubert to Chopin. I would sometimes spend hours just listening to her, watching her sway to the music with her eyes closed. She particularly loved to play Beethoven's moonlight sonata. It's a somber piece, but she always made it sound so hauntingly beautiful"

She fell silent for a few moments, as if to collect her thoughts. "Then one day, and I remember it as if it were yesterday, she played a piece I didn't recognize. It was unlike anything I had ever heard her play before. It was...intricate and yet simple, uplifting and...hopeful, for lack of a better term. I was entranced. When she asked me whether I liked it I told her that I loved it, and asked her what it was called. She simply said 'Elsa'. She had composed it, just for me. She never wrote it down, or if she did I didn't find it, and I haven't heard it in nine years." She took a deep breath. "After the funeral, I asked her parents if I could keep a few mementos from her room. The only thing I took was her violin. It's sitting in it's case in my room, and I put the bow here. To never forget that beautiful song."

Anna couldn't keep back her tears any longer, but she didn't want Elsa to see. She turned and almost ran to the couch, sitting down and burying her face in her hands. She felt Elsa siting down next to her, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

Anna almost laughed at the question. "No. Yes. I don't..."

She looked at Elsa's face, concern evident.

"I should be asking you that question." she said, sniffling.

Elsa smiled, and pulled her in for an embrace. "I'm okay, Anna"

They sat in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other's company. Anna felt safe and, strangely, at home. Like this was exactly where she belonged. The realization should have shocked her, rocked her world to the very core, but she simply felt content.

After a while, however, her curiosity began eating away at her. She desperately wanted to ask that one question she knew she shouldn't ask. It made her uneasy, and she was afraid Elsa would kick her out or ignore her for the rest of her life. The blonde noticed her squirming, however.

"A penny for your thoughts." she said lightheartedly.

She gathered all of her courage. "Elsa, um, I want to ask you something. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I would totally understand."

Elsa smiled. "Just ask already." Despite her light tone, Anna could feel her tense up.

She raised her head and looked Elsa in the eyes. "How, um, how did she die?"

The blonde sighed. "I knew that question would come."

"You don't have to answer, really, I'm just as nosy and inappropriate as always."

"It's alright Anna. I just...I don't think I can talk about that right now. I hope you understand."

"Of course! It's really not a big deal. I mean, of course it is, I didn't mean to imply anything, I was just curious, you know, and I'm sorry for making you think about it and bringing you down and I'm sure you hate me now."

To her surprise, Elsa laughed. "If I didn't know better I'd think you do that on purpose, just so I melt away at your cuteness."

Anna blushed furiously and looked at her feet, unsure how to react. Just when she wanted to reply her stomach made an angry growl, and she suddenly realized just how starved she was.

Elsa laughed again, even harder this time. "_That_ you did on purpose, I'm sure of it!"

Anna giggled nervously. "I wish I had that degree of control over the black hole that is my stomach."

Elsa smiled and looked towards the dining table. "Listen," she said, slightly embarrassed, "I actually wanted to cook dinner for us tonight, but I'm absolutely exhausted. Would you mind if we ordered something?"

"Not at all." Anna said with a smirk. "I'd offer to cook, but I guess replacing your burned down kitchen is relatively low on your to-do list."

The blonde chuckled. "Alright, then. How does Pizza sound?"

* * *

><p>After they had both devoured almost an entire Pizza each, Elsa showed her around. The apartment wasn't as big as it looked judging from the living room, which took up a generous amount of space. There was just a small kitchen, a bathroom, two bedrooms and a little office space where Elsa occasionally did some work from home.<p>

Elsa took a quick shower while Anna stored away her few belongings, and almost squealed with delight when she found that Elsa had somehow found the time do deposit a box of oreos on the pillow of her bed.

Half an hour later Elsa was lying on her bed, dead-tired but unable to sleep. Her mind was in overdrive, running at a thousand miles per hour.

_'Why am I doing this? Why am I falling for her? I shouldn't. I mustn't. Yet here I am, thinking about her when I should be sleeping. She's so cute. And gorgeous. God how I'd love to peel her out of those pants...no, don't go there. It's not fair. She's trusting me. I'm an authority figure, and I shouldn't abuse that trust to exploit her for my base needs. But is it just that? I haven't felt this alive since...since Julia. But that's just that. Am I really falling for _her_, or just the ghost I'm seeing in her? They're so similar, so full of life and hope and expectations. And so compassionate! I would never have expected her to start crying, over my little sob story no less. And she's just next door! Sleeping like a baby, I'm sure. How cute she must look when she sleeps. Probably drooling all over the place...'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock. Anna opened the door and peeked her head in.

"Elsa? Are you asleep?" she whispered.

The blond sat up. "Yes, Anna, I'm sleep-talking right now." she said with a chuckle.

"Oh, quiet you." Anna shot back, sticking her tongue out.

"Did you need something?" Elsa asked.

"Um, yes actually. I...I have trouble falling asleep. You wouldn't have anything I could take?"

'_You too?_' Elsa thought, getting up. "Yeah, in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. I'll show you. You could have taken your roommate's stuff, though." She added with a smile.

Anna frowned at that. "My...roommate's stuff? What do you mean?"

"Um, she had a bottle of sleeping pills in her room."

Anna's frown deepened. "Nicole?! No, you must be wrong. She doesn't _believe_ in pills, she doesn't even take that homeopathic crap."

Elsa stopped dead in her tracks. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. She always teases me when I take an aspirin for my headaches, saying how I'm just a pawn of Big Pharma and stuff."

Elsa ran back to her room and started frantically digging through her closet, searching for clothes.

"Wait, what's going on?" Anna asked.

"Get dressed, Anna, and get your keys. We need to get to your apartment right now!" Elsa replied as she hopped into a pair of jeans.

"What? Why all of a sudden?"

Elsa stopped and looked her in the eye. "I saw a bottle sleeping pills in her room, and if it's not hers like you say..."

Anna's eyes widened in shock. "He could have left it there."

She rushed to get her clothes. Elsa, already fully dressed, grabbed her phone and dialed Kristoff's number.

"Come on, pick up you fuck! So help you god if you've put your phone on silent again..."

After redialing three times, finally someone answered.

"Finally! Krist...who are you?...Never mind, I need Kristoff, right now!...Kris, get to the station as soon as possible! Wake up someone from forensics, I need something analyzed ASAP...I'll explain later, just do it, okay?...Thanks, bye."

She hung up and grabbed the badge and gun resting on a dresser in her room. Anna was waiting at the door, a bit intimidated. "Do you really think I should come along? What if I, like disturb evidence or something like that?"

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." Elsa replied, bending down to grab the forensics-kit she kept next to her front door. She was glad she always tried to be prepared.

"Let's go" she said, throwing the door shut behind her.

* * *

><p>An hour later, Elsa burst through the door in her office, startling a clearly sleep-deprived Kristoff.<p>

"What's going on, Els?"

She ignored him and violently tore open a drawer in her filing cabinet, digging through folders and fishing out photographs and other documents. Anna was standing in a corner of the room, looking lost. Elsa stared at the photographs, completely blocking out everything else. Only when Kristoff harshly yanked at her arm and turned her around did she even acknowledge his presence.

"Will you please tell me what the _fuck_ is going on, Elsa?!"

"We found a bottle of sleeping pills in Nicole's room!"

He looked at her as if she had completely lost her mind. "So what?"

"Anna said she doesn't take pills, not even aspirin. Now look!" she demanded, pointing at the photographs. They showed medicine bottles, each found at the home of a different victim.

Kristoff stifled a yawn. "They're some cheap knock-off sleeping pills, so what?"

"Don't you see?! They're all the same, all sold by the same fucking pharmacy!"

When her words had finally sunk in, his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

"You mean..."

"Yes! We finally have our common denominator. That pharmacy" she pointed at the logo on one of the pictures, "is where he bought those pills! I'm sure they have video surveillance, if we're lucky we can get a license plate. Or maybe an employee remembers him. I knew he'd slip up eventually. I knew it!"

Kristoff took a closer look at one of the photographs. "Hm, Three Brothers 24/7 Pharmacy. That sounds familiar."

He returned to his desk and started typing away. "You won't like this. It got busted a few years ago for under the counter sale of prescription drugs, massive amounts. I'm talking wholesale. Apparently it was a front for the triads or something. And those sleeping pills were popular. We still got tons of the stuff in our evidence room."

"Damn it!" She went over to to look at his screen. "Proprietor: Arthur Wilson. He doing time?"

Kristoff looked it up. "Nope. He got tipped off and high-tailed out to Mexico. Current whereabouts unknown.

"Shit. Well, there's still a lot to look into. Let's go through all known affiliates and customers. Maybe we get lucky and our guy is among them."

They went digging through case files in silence, until Kristoff spoke up again. "I think I've got something. Here, Darren Townsend, out of Greenwich, NY. Got sentenced to two years on probation in relation to the bust, for illegal possession of prescription drugs. Mainly, those sleeping pills. Unfortunately there's no DNA on record to compare with that we have on the Iceman. Think he's our guy?"

Elsa looked at the mugshot. "He sure is ugly enough. Difficult to tell without the beard, though. Let's see if Anna recognizes him. Anna, could you..." She trailed off when she looked up and saw Anna slumped into a chair, fast asleep.

Elsa smiled and walked to her, rousing her gently.

"Anna? Could you help us out real quick?"

The redhead nodded sleepily and walked over to Kristoff's desk.

"Could that be our man?"

Anna scrunched up her face in concentration. "Maybe, I'm not sure. It's hard to tell without the beard. But the nose looks the part." She paused for a bit. "I think it's him, but I'm not a hundred per cent sure."

Kristoff clapped his hands. "That's enough for me! I'll get a search warrant as quickly as I can. A judge still owes me a favor." He smirked. "Anyway, you guys should head home and get some sleep in. Either Melissa or I will call you when we get the warrant, Elsa."

"Melissa?" the blonde asked.

"Oh right, you don't know." Kristoff said, blushing slightly. "She's the girl that picked up the phone. Remember when I got tripped and bumped into her when I did my little victory dance?"

Elsa rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "Only you could send someone flying on their ass and manage to get them into bed. Good job, she's cute! You go, pretty boy."

He laughed. "Thanks. Well, you should really get going. Try to sleep in, tomorrow's a Saturday anyway. I'll let you know as soon as the warrant is on my desk."

"Thanks." Elsa replied. "Oh right, I still haven't given you your key, Anna." She rummaged through a drawer in her desk. "I have a spare in here somewhere, but it seems like it's gone AWOL. Never mind, I'll just have a new copy made."

Anna just stood there, nodding when she heard her name, too sleep-deprived to comprehend what was said. They arrived home half an hour later and Elsa fell into her bed, slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>okay, you're surely wondering: what, two chapters in like 12 hours? yes, because there's a reason to celebrate: I'M GOING TO BE UNCLE! best fucking christmas present EVER! i'm so incredibly happy for my sis, and i'll love the shit out of my little niece or nephew! and because i'm so happy you get to be happy, too, with a new chapter! hope you guys like it!<strong>

**sorry about the messy first upload of this chater, i hope this time the formatting works out.**

**peace out**


	6. Goddamn commie bastards!

Elsa was rudely yanked out of her dreams, or nightmare rather, by someone intensely shaking her shoulder.

"Elsa! Wake up!"

Out of reflex the blonde threw a punch at her assailant, and only when it was too late to stop did she recognize Anna's voice. The redhead staggered and fell square on her ass. Elsa's eyes went wide.

"Oh my god, Anna! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" She jumped out of bed and knelt down next to Anna, trying to see if she was okay. The redhead looked more shocked than hurt.

"Oh no, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" She wanted to wrap her arms around the girl sitting before her, but she didn't dare. She was too afraid Anna would reject her.

"Wow. You really have a mean right hook." Anna said, slowly raising a hand to her cheek.

"Don't touch it. I'll go get some ice, stay where you are!"

When she returned from the kitchen with a bag of ice, Anna was sitting on her bed. She sat down next to the redhead and carefully pressed the ice against her cheek. Anna winced when she felt the cold on her throbbing face.

"That will leave a bruise, won't it?" she asked.

Elsa looked at the floor, deeply embarrassed. "I'm afraid so." she replied. "But why were you trying to wake me up?" She hoped it didn't sound like an accusation.

"I went to the bathroom, and when I was about to go back to bed, I heard you calling for help. I went to check on you and you were just thrashing around and I could see you were having a bad dream. I just...wanted to help you, I guess." she said with a blush.

"And as thanks you get a shiner." Elsa said dejectedly.

Anna held her hand under Elsa's chin and turned her head, looking her in the eyes.

"You didn't do it deliberately. It's okay."

Elsa managed a smile. "Still. I'll make it up to you, somehow."

Anna was staring into her eyes with an intensity that made her uneasy. Slowly, she moved her hand from Elsa's chin to her cheek.

"I know just the thing." she murmured, and before Elsa could react the redhead leaned in, eyes closed, and pressed a kiss to her lips.

Elsa's mind went blank. The only thing that existed was Anna, with her lips pressed against hers. The feeling was indescribable, those weren't butterflies fluttering but eagles soaring in her stomach. It was far too soon when Anna pulled away again, and she felt all warmth leave her body when she saw an expression of utter terror in her wide-open eyes.

"I...oh god, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have... I..."

Elsa wanted her to stop apologizing, and shut her up the only way she could think of. Cupping her uninjured cheek, she fiercely smashed their lips together, eliciting a small moan from Anna. A hungry tongue pushed its way through half-opened lips, and finally Anna began reciprocating the kiss. The bag of ice, long forgotten, landed on the floor and Elsa moved her now free hand behind Anna's back, pulling her closer. Only the need to breathe made them break apart.

"Elsa..." the redhead whimpered.

"Stop apologizing." Elsa murmured with a smirk and kissed her again, gentler this time.

Anna shifted her weight and leaned back, pulling Elsa half on top of her. She gasped when Elsa placed a hand on her waist and slowly slid it beneath the hem of her nightshirt. The blonde hesitated, unsure if she pushed too far too fast, but Anna grabbed her wrist and moved her hand further upwards, inviting her to explore. And explore she did, letting her fingers wander over Anna's incredibly smooth skin, feeling toned muscles tensing under her touch.

Only when she brushed the underside of Anna's bare breast did she realize that the redhead wasn't wearing a bra. She paused again, afraid of scaring Anna away. The redhead broke their kiss and gave an annoyed sigh.

"You know, for a drop-dead gorgeous, badass detective you're pretty shy about this." she teased.

Elsa chuckled and leaned in for another kiss, but for the briefest of moments she saw black instead of red, hazel instead of teal. She froze in mid-motion. _'Julia?!'_ She backed away, and after a few tense moments fled out of the bedroom.

Anna found her a few minutes later, sitting on the couch. The redhead slowly sat down, conscious to give Elsa the space she needed.

"Did I...say something wrong?" she asked quietly.

Elsa was quiet for a while, thinking. "No." she said. "You didn't say or do anything wrong. I just...I don't know what happened."

Silence again.

Elsa heard Anna take a deep breath, and somehow she knew what she was going to say.

"Listen, Elsa, I know we've known each other for, like, five days, and it's probably way too soon to say this but...I like you. A lot. When I'm close to you I just feel...at home, safe. Like I belong. And I've never felt like that before in my entire life."

Elsa smiled and turned her head to look at Anna. "It's crazy to say this, but I feel the same way. Just being around you makes me happy. This," she laid a finger on the redhead's lips, "is the most alive I've felt in nine years. And I think I'm falling for you, Anna. Hard. But..."

She paused to take a deep breath, steeling her nerves. She knew leaving that 'but' hanging in the air for so long wasn't fair for Anna. Elsa was just afraid of the redhead's reaction to what she would say next.

"But I don't know if it's for the right reasons." Elsa finally said, opening her other hand and revealing the heart-shaped locket she had been holding the entire time.

"It's uncanny how much you remind me of her sometimes. You're both so optimistic and caring, full of life and hope for the future. Have I told you what she wanted to study after high school?"

Anna only shook her head in response.

"Medicine. She wanted to go into research and try and find a cure for AIDS. Not because she'd lost someone close to her to the disease. I don't think she even personally knew anybody suffering from it. But she wanted to help people. And what I've seen from you these past few days, you are the same." She paused, taking another breath. "I want to be with you, Anna, I can't even begin to describe how much I want to. But I don't know if I'm drawn to you, or the past I never had that I see in you. I've been with so many women over the years that I couldn't recall half of them, even if I wanted to. I've _used_ them for a quick high, just to forget for a few hours. Most of these girls were probably after the same, but I just know a few of them were hoping for more. And I hurt them, disappointed them. I don't want to do that to you."

She fell silent and waited, in equal parts anticipation and dread, for Anna's response.

The redhead grasped the hand holding the locket, and cupped Elsa's cheek with her other hand.

"I understand." she said softly looking into her eyes. "I know you're probably scared or feeling guilty, but you don't need to. I may be a lot like her," she squeezed the hand holding the locket, "but I am not her. And even if that familiarity is what has drawn you to me in the beginning, I don't think it's all I am to you. I appreciate your concern, but not giving me, _us_, a chance because of your past and what might happen would hurt me just as much."

Elsa leaned over and rested her head in the crook of Anna's neck. "Thank you." she murmured. "You're so sweet all the time, and I want this to work. It just feels unfair, burdening you with my past."

Anna started gently stroking her hair. "Stop talking like that _right now_. I want you, all of you. The whole package. And that includes your history. If it means I get to be with you in the present, I have absolutely no problem helping you deal with your past."

Elsa wrapped an arm around Anna's waist, enjoying the silence. After a few minutes, she spoke up again. "Are you really sure about this? About me?"

Anna scoffed. "Am I sure that I won't trip over my own feet and break my neck tumbling down a flight of stairs today? Of course not. But if I waited for the perfect moment I'd never get going. I can't look into the future, but I want to try and make it as beautiful as possible."

Elsa processed what Anna had said, sitting in silence for a while.

"I just want to make sure we both don't get burned by this..._us_. I want to take it slow. Is that okay with you?" Worry was plain in her voice.

Anna chuckled and tangled her hands in Elsa's blonde hair. "You're worth the wait." she simply replied. "Making out now and then wouldn't hurt, though." she added with a chuckle.

Elsa sighed and wished she could stop time. She never wanted this moment to end, to stay snuggled up to Anna and, despite all, feel content. Reality had different plans, however, and their moment was interrupted all too soon by Elsa's phone ringing in her bedroom. She groaned and pushed herself up.

"That's Kristoff's ringtone. Probably about that warrant. I'll be right back."

She went to her bedroom and retrieved the phone.

"Hey Kris...okay, I'll get to the station in, say, an hour?...Great, see you then."

She went to the bathroom for a quick shower and got dressed. When she returned to the living room, ready to head out, Anna was lazily zapping through the channels on the TV.

"I'm going to the station now." Elsa said from behind, prompting Anna to turn around. "Depending on how things go I could be home late. Will you be okay on your own?"

Anna giggled and gestured at the remote. "I have a big-ass TV with a million channels at my disposal, not to mention the myriad of books you own. I'll keep myself occupied. "

Elsa smirked and turned towards the door. She hesitated for a moment, then removed a key from her ring.

"I'm leaving that with you, since I haven't had time yet to get a spare one. You know, in case you wanna head out or something. Call me if something comes up." She turned around again and headed out.

* * *

><p>"I don't like this at all." Kristoff said, looking at a file on his screen. "AR-15, half a dozen handguns...are you sure we shouldn't let SWAT handle this one?"<p>

Elsa frowned. "It's just a search warrant, besides you know how these guys are just great at destroying evidence. Wouldn't hurt to have them on stand-by though, just in case."

She sighed and pulled a bulletproof vest over her head, silently cursing herself for not thinking of wearing a more loose-fitting shirt today while she buttoned it back up again. She put her Glock 19 in its holster, grabbing two extra magazines for good measure. Better safe than sorry. Stuffing her radio in her pocket, she did one last check on her equipment. Dealing with people who had such an impressive amount of registered firearms always made her nervous. It was impossible to know what kind of unregistered weapons they might have.

Kristoff made the call to request a heavy rescue truck on stand-by in the general area while they made their way to her car. The drive was unusually quiet and made Elsa anxious. She had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

><p>They slowly walked up towards the front door, wary of any signs that something might be out of the ordinary. The house itself was what you'd expect from a suburb, single-story with a somewhat messy front lawn. Elsa took a deep breath before knocking on the door. When no one answered, she knocked again.<p>

"Mr. Townsend, this is the NYPD. We have a search warrant, please open the door."

Everything remained quiet. Kristoff anxiously raised his hand to the gun in its holster, and Elsa had to fight the urge to do the same. She moved to the side to peek through one of the narrow windows beside the door. She barely had enough time to raise her arm before her face when the glass shattered and the impact sent her staggering backwards, falling off the porch. Everything went black for a few moments.

"...down, repeat, officer down!"

_'Why is he sounding so agitated? Oh, right...'_ She groaned and patted herself down. A surge of relief washed through her when she felt the bullet embedded in her vest. She knew it would leave a nasty bruise on her chest, but the gallons of adrenaline coursing through her bloodstream blocked out the pain. For now.

"Motherfucker." she cursed through clenched teeth, propping herself up on her elbows.

"Elsa, stay down! Are you okay?"

She just gave him a thumbs-up and started crawling towards the edge of the house, to get out of immediate danger. Leaning on the wall she slowly stood up and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Kristoff made his way to her side, careful to avoid any windows.

"I've called for backup, the cavalry will be here in five to eight minutes." he whispered into her ear.

"Yeah, and he'll be long gone by then" She hissed, drawing her gun. "Watch the front door, I'll make sure he doesn't leave out back!"

Kristoff grabbed her arm and tried holding her back, but she shook it off.

"I'm _not_ letting that bastard escape! Now watch the goddamn door!"

Elsa took off around the side of the house, ducking beneath any windows that lay on her path. Once at the back of the house, she pressed her back against the wall next to the closed door, ready to take anyone down trying to make a run for it. She risked a peek through the small window in the door, and could see the silhouette of a man kneeling behind a couch, rifle trained towards the front door. Seeing an opening, she slowly edged her way towards a window and raised her weapon, taking aim. Just as she was about to pull the trigger she bumped into a rusty grill, the sound making him swirl around. Her shot hit the couch and nothing else.

Cursing, the man turned around fully and let loose a salvo towards the window before sprinting for a doorway. Elsa more heard than felt the bullet entering her arm, looking in disbelief at the hole in her sleeve that was quickly turning red. '_Shit!_'

That was the last straw. Shooting caution into the wind she kicked down the door, running into what looked like a dining room and taking cover next to the open door leading into what she presumed was the living room. She glanced around the corner and saw the door the suspect had run to, still half-open. Slowly she crept up to it, gun raised but unfortunately in the wrong hand. Still, she was determined to end this right now. Just as was she was reaching for the doorknob with her injured hand, the door flew open with a force that surprised her, knocking the gun out of her hand. She stumbled backwards with a surprised yelp and fell onto her ass once again, and when she looked up she stared into the barrel of a rifle aimed for her head, malicious eyes glistening behind it.

"Goddamn commie bastards!" the man yelled, and Elsa shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. A flash of red hair and teal eyes went through her mind when she heard the shot, but to her surprise it was the man before her shouting in pain, just in the process of falling to the floor. She looked up to the front door to see Kristoff with his gun trained at the man, and she quickly got up and kicked the rifle away from him. Picking up her own weapon, she took in everything she could about the man writhing in pain on the floor, clutching his right shoulder.

"Elsa! Are you alright?"

Kristoff's concerned voice forced her mind to focus on him. She realized he was staring at her left sleeve, now completely drenched in red. As the shock wore off she started feeling the sting from the wound.

"Yeah," she said through gritted teeth. "I'm the black knight, 'tis but a scratch." she chuckled, despite everything.

They heard sirens howl in the distance. "You tend to that wound, I'll keep this guy in check" Kristoff said. Their radios crackled with static as a voice inquired about their status.

"One suspect down, officer wounded. Building not secure, repeat, not secure." Kristoff replied while Elsa shed her coat and tore off the right sleeve of her shirt. _'I really liked those clothes'_ she thought while pressing the torn-off sleeve to the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

* * *

><p>"Kristoff!" Anna yelled, out of breath. She sprinted the last few steps towards the huge blonde. "How is she? Is she gonna be alright?"<p>

The burly blonde looked at her with an amused grin. "Relax, she's fine. Came out of a surgery a while ago and should be waking up any minute now."

Anna's eyes went even wider. "Surgery? What...what happened?!"she almost shouted.

Kristoff, noticing the glares they received from passing nurses and other patients, tried to shush her. "Will you please calm down? She'll be alright! She got shot in the arm and the bullet was close to the brachial artery, so the docs decided to play it safe and worked it out with general anesthesia."

He noticed her still-worried look, and added "If you want I can take you to her. As I said she should wake up any minute now."

Anna eagerly nodded and fell in step behind him. She gasped when she entered the room and saw Elsa lying on the bed, still unconscious, with a thick bandage on her left arm. Anna quickly rushed to her side and took hold of her right hand, squeezing it tightly.

As if on cue, the blonde slowly opened her eyes. Confused at first, she smiled when her vision focused on Anna. "Hey there, copper head." she whispered with a hoarse voice.

"Elsa." Anna breathed, raising the blonde's hand to her mouth and kissing it gently. "You had me so worried!"

"I'm okay." she replied, still drowsy and a little out of it, but the wince she let out when she tried raising her left arm proved her a liar.

"Easy now, take it slow." Anna said with a crooked smile. She dragged a chair up to the bedside and sat down, taking hold of Elsa's hand again. "What happened?" she asked.

"She got careless, that's what happened." Kristoff said. Only now did Elsa register his presence in the room.

"Oh shut up, you." the blonde replied, rolling her eyes.

"No, Elsa. Today was a mess. You almost got yourself killed for crying out loud!"

"You what?!" Anna shrieked. Elsa winced as the sound pierced her ears.

"Don't listen to him." The blonde slurred, eyes trained firmly on Anna's. "He's blowing this all out of proportion."

Kristoff let out a frustrated sigh. "For heaven's sake, Elsa, the guy had a fucking _rifle_ on your..."

He was cut off by Elsa letting out an angry growl. "If this is all you want to talk about you can wait outside!" she snarled, shooting daggers with her glare.

"Fine!" he huffed, throwing his arms in the air before turning around and skulking out of the room.

Anna squeezed her hand to get her attention once more, worry plain on her face. "Is it true?" she asked.

Elsa sighed and dropped her gaze. "It was closer than I'd have liked." she replied after a few moments. "But I'm alright, and we got the bastard. That's what counts."

"No, Elsa." Anna replied, agitation evident "what counts is that you take care of yourself! I don't - we just started...I don't know, _something_, and then you go and do this! When Kristoff called me and told me you were in the hospital I felt like..."

Her voice trailed off and Elsa looked up to see tears welling up in her beautiful teal eyes. The sight hurt her more than she'd like to admit, knowing she was the cause. Raising her uninjured arm and cupping Anna's cheek, careful to avoid the bruise she had left there earlier that day, she pulled Anna's head down until their foreheads rested together.

"I'm sorry." the blonde whispered, the feeling of Anna's ragged breaths on her lips sending shivers down her spine. "I'll be more careful from now on out, okay? You don't need to worry about me."

"I'll always worry about you." Anna replied with a hoarse voice before pressing a tender kiss to Elsa's lips.

* * *

><p><strong>hey guys! I'm back! Yay! Well, sort of. I'm currently in the middle of hunting for a new apartment, a new job and may even begin training into a completely different field from what i've done so far. Exciting times! At least in real life, in the fanfiction-world i'm suffering from the dreaded writer's block. Usually, when that happens i'll focus on something completely different for a while, write on some unrelated stuff, usually some drabbles or disjointed ideas for new fics.<strong>

**This time, however, i've been exceptionally busy: i'm sitting on the complete first chapters of three new fics (all elsanna, one medieval sort-of-AU, a post-apocalyptic AU and a modern AU). They won't get posted for a long, long time, i'll only start working on those new fics in earnest once my current fics are finished. Which might take a while, since I still suffer from writer's block. Persistent little bugger.**

**Most of this chapter has actually been written around christmas, but after that the juice kinda left me. I've finished it now and publish it so you guys know that _I haven't abandoned you_. I am still committed to this fic and my other ones, too (summer rains and light bearers). _I WILL definitely finish them_, even if it takes me a year each. I will see it done. Only death can keep me from seeing this through!**

**That said, updates will be irregular at best. It'll probably be about one per month, but I don't want to give any promises I can't keep. The way it is now I can only write when the fancy strikes me, and that is very rarely at the moment. The chapters will come when they come.**

**I hope you liked this chapter, and I hope you'll accept it as an apology for letting you guys in the dark for so long. I'm not worthy of all your awesomeness.**

**Reviews/feedback/suggestions are, as always, very welcome**

**Special thanks goes to ****ComplexStatus**** who kindly acted as a beta on this chapter. You are fucking brilliant!**

**Peace out**


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